


Blood Calls to Blood

by Joan963z, neichan



Category: Blood Ties (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, M/M, m/m explicit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-12-16
Updated: 2008-08-26
Packaged: 2019-02-05 18:44:02
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 34,381
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12800088
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Joan963z/pseuds/Joan963z, https://archiveofourown.org/users/neichan/pseuds/neichan
Summary: Henry is injured Mike gives him blood to save his life. When Mike receives a fatal injury Henry gives his blood to stop the bleeding. Blood calls to blood. Will Mike go insane or answer the call?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Note from Haven, the archivist: This story was originally archived at [Fandom Haven Story Archive (FHSA)](http://fanlore.org/wiki/Fandom_Haven_Story_Archive), was scheduled to shut down at the end of 2016. To preserve the archive, I began working with the OTW to transfer the stories to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project in November 2017. If you are this creator and the work hasn't transferred to your AO3 account, please contact me using the e-mail address on [Fandom Haven Story Archive collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/fhsa/profile).

  
Author's notes: Co-written by Joan963z and Neichan  


* * *

Mike woke up again in a cold sweat, cock hard and pulsing, aching for release. He staggered from the bed, gulping air, heading towards the bathroom. He braced himself on the counter and just breathed, deep anchoring breaths, his head hung down, eyes closed, and then opened to look at his white fingers as he clutched the edge of the counter. The vivid dreams were more frequent now, if he could call them dreams. Erotic nightmares would be more accurate. They were like nothing he’d ever experienced before.

 

It had started slowly, this pull to Henry. The vampire had been wounded, bleeding faster than was healthy, even for a vampire. Henry needed blood to heal, more than Vicki could safely give. Vicki asked him to help, her eyes were moist and she had come close to pleading with him before he reluctantly gave in.

 

He did it more to gain points with her and to banish the pain of loss from her eyes than because he wanted to save Henry. Though Henry had saved Vicki’s life and it wasn’t the first time, so he let the vampire grip a weak handful of his hair, bend back his neck to a painful angle and sink his teeth into his jugular to drink.

 

Thinking back on it he could see the beginning now, but then… It was nothing but a little apprehension, and a vague nausea at what he was letting happen. Waking up with the bite scar aching and a hard on was no different from any man waking up hard. He didn’t really connect the two at first.

 

Well, maybe he was a bit harder then usual upon waking, but there were no dreams then, at least none he could remember. There was the whisper of a touch, maybe ghostly lips lingering on his throat when he woke each morning, but it could have been no more then the brush of a blanket.

 

He had expected the apprehension to fade the same way it did after other high stress situations. He was a police detective; high stress was part of the job description. It never stuck around more than a day or two. There was always something else, something worse, some horrific new murder or death to drive it from his mind.

 

And something else had come along. But it didn’t eliminate the apprehension and then the dreams started.

 

He got shot, hit by a ricochet. It shouldn’t have been bad, wouldn’t have been except that the bullet nicked his femoral artery. He would have bled out in a minute, but it was Vicki’s case that he was following up on and the silent, watchful Henry was there with her. 

 

Henry, in one spot and then another, seemingly not to have moved through the space between the two points at all, was suddenly there putting pressure on the wound. His hands were big, hard and fierce as he staunched as much of the flow as he could. “Do you want me?” Henry asked. A question Mike didn’t understand and couldn’t find the words to answer.

 

Mike just sat looking at the blood spurting between Henry’s fingers. 

 

Henry spoke again, his voice modulated to a deep baritone that pulled Mike’s mind to attention. “I can stop the bleeding,” Henry said, “and save your life. Do you want me?” The vampire looked at him with ancient black eyes, His dark silken hair formed waves to frame his pale face. Henry waited and seemed to search Mike’s soul for the truth of it. Blood pulsed through his fingers with each beat of Mike’s heart.

 

“Answer me now, Celluci!” Henry ordered; his voice was terrible, deep and echoing with command. Mike tried to raise his hand and stop the words from smashing into his brain. They got through anyway, forcing him to think.

 

Mike was no fool. He knew the difference between a steady bleed and a pumping spurt. He could already feel his brain closing down and wrapping him in cool, wet cotton. He pushed through the maze of cotton walls that made up his thoughts and struggled to form words. “Do it,” he said and then laid back and closed his eyes. Surrendering to whatever happened next.

 

He didn’t see the vampire open his wrist and drip blood into the wound, but Mike felt the slow fading away stop, felt the heat spread across his wound and sink inside of him. The cotton in his brain seemed to thin and Mike stopped fighting death and let himself fall asleep.

 

When the detective woke up he was in a hospital room with a plastic bag of blood nearly infused. The dim, watery light of a Toronto dawn shone through his window. Vicki was there but he found himself looking around the room for Henry. He wanted Henry to be there, but Henry couldn’t be there in the light of day. Mike held onto that knowledge with both hands. He shoved away the odd feeling of disappointment that he felt at Henry’s absence, shoved it away and buried it deep. He shifted his concentration to Vicki.

 

“The doctor said you are one lucky bastard, Mike,” she told him. “That bullet nicked an artery, the biggest one in the human body. You should have been dead in less than a minute. But for some unknown reason a clot formed and stopped the bleeding. The doc seems to think it’s a miracle. He’s never seen anything like it.”

 

Thirty-six hours later, Mike was back home in his own apartment and three days after that he was feeling well enough to be limping around with a cane and developing a bad case of cabin fever. He was too restless to sit home alone, pushing away thoughts of Henry, he decided to go into work and finish up some reports that were waiting for him.

 

He had to take a cab; he was still under doctor’s orders not to drive. Aside from the smell of the dingy back seat it wasn’t so bad. At work it was even better. After the congratulatory pats on the back and hand shakes he forced himself to concentrate on his work and the vampire’s voice and face were forgotten for a while.

 

But they came back in spades at the end of the day, curling like tendrils of smoke all through his mind. Mike decided to get take-out for supper on the way home. By the time he got through the pick up line and left the restaurant the sun was already going down and his leg was hurting like a son of a bitch. Thoughts of Henry continued to insert themselves into his mind and what was worse; the vampire’s bite mark was throbbing, blood heavy, in a way he could only compare to arousal. He had had enough and decided to confront the vampire.

 

It wasn’t easy climbing the stairs to Henry’s apartment, but when he got to the door it seemed to open of its own accord. The quiet interior was soundless and empty in that first moment and an eerie chill ran through Mike. Then his searching gaze stopped on the figure in the foyer.

 

The immobile vampire stood looking at Mike, a statue of old marble faded to bronze by the low interior light. His expression was unreadable as he stepped aside to give Mike entrance into the apartment.

 

“Come in, sit down,” Henry said, the tone like silk, warm and yet cool as it caressed his ear. 

 

Mike fought down the involuntary shiver. 

 

“You need to get your weight off that leg. I can feel it hurting.” Henry’s big graceful hand held his own thigh in precisely the spot that Mike’s leg throbbed.

 

“I don’t want to sit down,” Mike snapped, letting the tight, hot anger he felt show in his voice. He hoped Henry was hurting twice as bad as he was. “I just came to tell you to get out of my head and stay out of my dreams. I don’t swing that way. Not even for too pretty boys who save my life. Got it?” The last was said through clenched teeth.

 

“You’re the one that came here to me, Mike, I did not go to you.” Henry said calmly, choosing not to react physically to Mike’s anger. He leaned a hip against the table behind him.

 

And that was part of the problem. Henry hadn’t cared enough to come to him. Mike squashed that thought like a bug. He didn’t want Henry to come visit him. That wasn’t what this was about. He wasn’t acting like some love struck teenager, stalking the vampire who hadn’t cared enough to… Mike Celluci was appalled at his thoughts. He lashed out verbally. “I’m not ‘coming’ to you. I’m only here to tell you that I know what you are trying to do and it’s not going to work. Stay out of my head! And stay away from me.” Mike turned to leave. “Get it through your thick skull, I don’t belong to you and I never will.”

 

Henry was suddenly in front of Mike, blocking his path. His black eyes ablaze and devoid of human white, all swirling dark and burning heat. “Then you stay out of mine.”

 

“I don’t have that kind of power,” Mike said. “I’m human,” admitting far more than he’d like in saying the truth aloud.

 

Henry tilted his head and licked his flushed lips. He was almost smiling as if in regret and Mike found the look uncomfortably arousing. “But you assume I do.”

 

“Recurring dreams, every night, always the same,” Mike said. “I wake up, the bite mark throbbing.” He didn’t mention the rest, the most damning evidence. “Yeah, I think you have the power. You may as well stop now; I’m not going to become your thrall. You aren’t going to talk me into your bed or anything else.”

 

Henry picked up Mike and shoved him against the wall. “If I wanted to take you against your will you would already be mine,” Henry growled, the truth of his words indisputable, as Mike was instantly and achingly hard. And then Henry backed away, lowering him with surprising care to the floor, he opened the door giving the detective leave to go.

 

“Blood calls to blood,” Henry said as Mike walked by. “There is nothing I can do to stop it. Whether you want it or don’t. No matter how hard you and I fight against it, detective, you are mine.” He shrugged, that Gallic lift of the shoulders that gave nothing away yet implied everything. “It is that way sometimes.” 

 

The door shut firmly in Celluci’s face before he could find a scathing response.


	2. Chapter 2

  
Author's notes: Co-written by Joan Z and Neichan  


* * *

Mike sat up from the exam table, careful to make every move smooth and without the slightest visible strain. “How’s it look doc?” he asked, his tone deliberately casual.

The doctor looked up from his chart. “It looks good, healing nicely. I’m going to give you clearance to go back to work on light duty.”

“Oh come on doc! Light duty?” Mike said as he pulled on his pants. “I’m a police detective you know there’s no such thing.”

“All I am saying is if there is a suspect to chase down let your partner do it. I don’t want you putting any undue stress on that leg.”

“Look,” Mike said, “the physical therapist said I’m doing fine; and besides, have you seen my partner try to run lately?” He snorted as a picture appeared in his mind. His partner needed to lose weight, badly.

“There’s a big difference between a pretty woman bending your knee and encouraging you to do leg lifts and chasing down a suspect that may turn around and try to kill you,” the doctor insisted, continuing to make notations on the paperwork that Mike needed to get back to the job.

Mike knew there was no point in arguing for more than the doctor wanted to authorize, all that would get him is another week or two at home; he’d pushed as hard as he dared, now he’d have to just take what he was given and like it. “Okay doc, I’ll be careful. Oh I almost forgot, can you give me a refill on those sleeping pills?”

The question drew a sharp, evaluating look from the doctor. “Sorry Mike, can’t do that, you’ve been on them a month now. It’s time to start sleeping on your own.”

Mike tried to keep the feeling of desperation out of his voice. “What’s the big deal, I’m not saving up to off myself.” ‘Shit,’ he thought when he wasn’t entirely successful. He needed the pills to sleep without dreaming.

“The big deal is sleeping pills don’t let you dream,” the doctor said, striking exactly on the point. “You need to dream to maintain good mental health.”

“I don’t have dreams, Doctor, I have nightmares, big walapoloozas, cold sweats, pounding heart; the whole nine yards.” He left out the hard-on and the nearly uncontrollable urge to seek out a certain friendly ancient bloodsucker.

The doctor looked serious as he set aside the clipboard and the paperwork. “There is a police therapist on duty that you can talk to about the shooting,” the doctor said. “If you’re still having the dreams you need to do that, Mike. Rest is imperative to your recovery and lack of sleep can be every bit as harmful as drinking on duty. I can tell you, it’s a toss up what I’d want on the street, an officer who has had a few beers or an officer who hasn’t been sleeping.” His face was utterly without humor.

Mike knew that if he pushed it he would most likely end up in a report on his captain’s desk and the last thing he wanted to do was to have to make up lies about the dreams he had been having. Since he started taking the sleep meds the dreams had gone away. Of course, Henry was in his every thought, all day, but maybe the dream cycle had been broken. He could only hope. “You’re right, I haven’t had any dreams since I started taking the meds, I’ll go without and if they come back I‘ll see the police shrink.”

“Good, then we’re through here. I’ll need to see you in two weeks and if everything continues to look good, and your sleep has returned to normal, I’ll clear you to go back on full duty status.”

“Thanks Doctor,” Mike said as he shook the doctor’s hand.

******

The woman sat across from Vicki wringing her hands, “We just got her. It was her first night with us. She never gave us a chance; she just left. The police are treating this like just another runaway.” The red-rimmed eyes were swollen, the woman, for all the brevity of contact with her new foster child, obviously felt terrible about what had happened.

“And there is something about this that makes you think it’s not just another runaway?” Vicki asked. Kids ran away all the time, mostly they came back. Of course, add in the fact that this one was a foster kid… and the odds weren’t as good that she would return.

“Yes I do. Lucy didn’t take anything with her. No clothes, nothing except the pajamas she was wearing. The police think I’m mistaken, that I don’t know because she wasn’t with me long enough for me to remember all her clothes.” She wrung her hands. “But I can’t find the PJ’s anywhere.”

“I agree with my wife,” Mr. Jensen said. “It was a windy night, I remember remarking to my wife how strange the wind sounded, like some demonic flute player, and Lucy didn’t even take her coat. A kid with any sense would have at least gotten dressed and taken her coat.”

Ok, Vicki could see the thing about the coat. It was cold and unless the kid was running from an immediate threat she would have put on something warmer than thin flannels. “Do you think she was abducted?”

“The police said there was no evidence of an abduction,” Mr. Jensen said as he patted his wife’s hand. “There is no evidence of a break-in and we didn’t hear anything except that damn wind.” He met Vicki’s eyes. “We’ve been taking in foster kids for a long time. We believe in doing something to give back to our community. There was nothing, no clue that she was going to leave and she had no history of running away. She was shy because she didn’t know us. She didn’t initiate any conversations but when we talked to her she would interact with us. I just feel like something isn’t kosher about any of this.”

The man was sure, adamant even, and Vicki felt herself being convinced despite years of knowing better.

“Even if she is a runaway,” Mrs. Jensen said, “I still want you to find her. She’s only ten years old. There are child predators out there. She could have met someone on the Internet and been talked into meeting them. There are stories on TV all the time. What if that’s what happened to her? What if she was taken by a pedophile? She thinks no one cares about her. I want her to know someone cares enough to look for her. She’s just a little girl, Ms. Nelson. We have to find her!”

“All right Mr. and Mrs. Jensen, I’ll take the case. I’ll need a picture and any information you can give me about Lucy.” Vicki turned to a pristine sheet of paper in her notebook. She could tell, to do this right, it was going to take a while.

******

“So will you help me out here Mike?” Vicki asked, after greeting Mike with a box of donuts and a Styrofoam cup of coffee. “I just need a look at the records for Lucy Thompson. She disappeared the night before last.” Vicki took the seat across form the police detective sipping her own brew.

“I’m already on the missing children’s case.” Mike said. “I have the police interview with the Jensen’s. They said they didn’t hear anything.” He sounded a little skeptical, not because a ten year old couldn’t sneak out of the house, but because lately anywhere Vicki was there was weirdness, and/or Henry involved.

“Except the wind, or what he thought was the wind,” Vicki said. “Mr. Jensen said that the wind was pretty strong, that could have covered any noise.” Vicki cocked her head and gave Mike a quizzical look. “I’m surprised to find you on this case.” Mike usually took the heavy cases, the ones that took lots of time and determination, like homicides. It was just strange to think of him doing missing persons when the person missing was a kid.

“Yeah… well…” Mike said as he swallowed a bite of donut, “I’m on light duty for now. I guess the captain figured he’d put me on non-violent cases.”

“Still… a runaway?” Vicki looked curious. There was something here she was not being told and she wanted to know what it was.

“Maybe not, at least not without some encouragement from an unknown source.” Celluci watched her face as he said that.

“What do you mean?” She asked, focusing on him even more tightly, her eyes narrowed behind her glasses.

“I mean there’s been a sudden increase in ‘runaways’ in the past week. Most of them have been from Juvi Hall. That place is locked up tighter than a fortress, but somehow five kids have gotten out during the night without any evidence of a breakout left behind. Add to that the ones who have vanished from group homes and we have an epidemic on our hands. We have twelve kids missing and every one of them is in the system. They range in age from 9 to 11. Now, maybe a 13 year old might run, but a 9 year old… That’s pushing it. And one other odd little coincidence, every one of them left in their pajamas… It makes my skin crawl. So, yeah I’ll help you on this one. I think there’s a good chance it’s a child pornography ring. I’m going to be hitting the streets tonight and see if I can get any leads.”

“I think I’ll see if Henry is free tonight. He may have access to places we don’t,” Vicki said softly.

Mike felt his heart start to pound. Henry. Of course his name would come up, it always did. “This isn’t supernatural, Vicki,” Mike said as he handed her Lucy’s file. “Why would Henry help? I doubt if he cares about lost and abused children.”

Vicki heard a slight sound of stress in Mike’s voice. She had a sense that something was off. Had Mike started dating and been dumped again? No it couldn’t be that. Mike was too occupied with recovering from the gunshot wound to have met someone. Then it hit her; maybe he met a nurse or a therapist. She shrugged the thought away and answered Mike “You’d be surprised about what Henry cares about,” she said, as she opened Lucy’s file and began to read.

******

The sun had been down for half an hour and Henry had been about to go out to get a bite to eat when he heard Vicki’s footsteps in the hall. He opened the door before she had a chance to knock. Luckily he wasn’t all that hungry. She looked like she meant business tonight; he was surprised when the first words out of her mouth weren’t about a new case.

“So, tell me,” Vicki said with a smile, “is this door thing you do preternatural hearing or ESP.”

“Hearing,” Henry said, perfectly serious. “I only have ESP with people I have a blood link to.”

Vicki’s brows rose and her lips twisted into a faintly mocking expression. “But I let you drink when you were wounded,” she pointed out, clearly doubting his word.

“Yes, but I’ve never given you any of my blood,” Henry said with a questioning smile. Why was Vicki asking about this of all things? “You need both to forge a link.”

Vicki’s shoulders relaxed as she decided he was telling the truth. “Ahh, no thanks to that,” she said and then she turned and walked into the living room. Henry’s illustration of scantily clad women, warriors and mythical beast surrounded her on the walls and on the easel.

“What brings you here, Vicki?” Henry asked, wanting to come to the point of her visit as soon as possible.

“A case I’m working on,” she said as she plopped down onto the couch.

Henry flowed down to sit next to her, enjoying it immensely when their legs touched and she didn’t move away. “Of course,” Henry murmured. Work. It was always work with Vicki.

“I know this is a long shot, Henry, but it’s been nagging at me,” Vicki went on, oblivious to the undercurrents flying between herself and the ancient Vampire.

“So, out with it,” Henry sighed, realizing it would be awhile before he got something to eat.

“I’m working on a child disappearance case. A ten-year-old girl walked out of her foster parent’s home in the middle of the night wearing only her pajamas. The thing is the father said there was a strong wind that night that sounded like a demonic flute. Those were his exact works, ‘demonic flute’. Mike’s working the case and he said there are a number of kids that walked out of Juvi Hall. That place is a lock up, but they got out and weren’t missed until morning. There are twelve children missing altogether.”

“Let me guess, all of them were abused kids?” Henry said, abruptly sitting forward and disrupting the contact between their bodies. He hated these kinds of things. As old as he was, he remembered his own childhood. He remembered the kinds of things that had happened to him and to others. That part of humanity hadn’t changed over the centuries; it never would. There would always be predators going after the weak and vulnerable.

“Yeah, you’re right, all of them were in the system. Is there something supernatural going on here?” Vicki asked, her body language switching from relaxed to alert. In the few months of their acquaintance she had picked up that Henry liked it when she touched him. He wasn’t usually the one to pull away. In fact it squirked her that he did, she could not remember it happening before.

“Maybe.” Henry sighed. “Probably…” There was no point in trying to hide the truth. “There’s a Grimshaw Demon, Maponus, you would know him as The Pied Piper…”

“Whoa!” Vicki said raising her hand into a stop sign. “Are you telling me that The Pied Piper is real?” She sounded anything but convinced.

“Vicki,” Henry said, “fantasies, the metaphysical, myth, the occult, it’s all based on truth.”

“So, we have a pied piper loose in Toronto?” She still sounded dubious.

“Looks that way,” Henry said. He knew Vicki needed time to accept what was happening. He’d planted the seed; it would stick.

Vicki’s thoughts swirled in her head. She had seen too many things since meeting Henry to disbelieve him now. When she looked up into Henry’s eyes he could see the decision had been made. Vicki got to the point. “What does he do with the kids? Does he hurt them? How? Where are they? How can we find them? Is there a spell you can use to track him or the kids?” The questions were rapid fire snapping off of her tongue.

“You don’t want to know what he does with them, Vicki.” Henry said. He didn’t even like to think about it.

“Mike thinks it’s a child pornography ring.” Vicki persisted.

“The children sold into child pornography would have it easy.” Henry made no effort to keep the sadness out of his voice.

“What could be worse then being sold to a pedophile?”

“Being sold to a demon.” Henry responded. As horrifically disgusting as a pedophile, modern or old could be, a demon was an octave of horror above and beyond even that.

Vicki shook he head. “No! No, no, no, no, no…” She was white. “That can’t be what is happening here. I…” Her voice petered out.

Henry pulled Vicki into a hug. “It’s okay, we’ll find them. It shouldn’t be too difficult. I can let it be known I’m in the market for something new and exciting.” Henry fought against the shudder that wanted to wrack his body. He wasn’t hungry any longer.


	3. Chapter 3

“You can’t go with me,” Henry said decisively.

“No way I’m letting you do this by yourself,” Vicki said, a frown wrinkling her brow as she watched him from a few feet away. Her jaw stuck out pugnaciously. “This is my case.”

Henry whirled, grabbed Vicki by the shoulders and looked into her eyes. “Listen to me. I’m going into a demon world. The only way I can bring you in there is as my thrall. Otherwise I’ll get nowhere in finding those children,” Henry said, not for the first time. He hoped that this time she would finally get the message and put her stubbornness aside. She was too confident and too ready to throw herself into the fire, but then she wouldn’t be Vicki if she didn’t take so many risks.

“Then fine,” Vicki said, not any closer to giving in. “I’ll pretend to be your thrall.”

Henry shook his head. “No, you won’t! These are demons, Vicki; they could smell the deception. I would have to bite you and leave a claiming mark. You would have to actually BE my thrall or they would know we were trying to fool them. Add to that that vampires rarely take more then one human thrall at a time…it would make Maponus too wary of me to do business. It just won’t work.”

“There has to be something I can do,” Vicki said, her whole body projecting how dissatisfied she was with the arrangement. “I can’t just go home and wait. Bite me; give me some of your blood. Just enough to fool these demons you are talking about.”

Henry shook her just a little. “You’re talking crazy. There is no such thing as just a little. One drop or one gallon, blood calls to blood, I’m not turning you into my thrall. You wouldn’t be you any more.” They shared a glare, Henry thinking of Mike and what they were going through. He would take Mike or Vicki in a nano-second if they would give themselves freely. But there was a reason that vampires rarely took more then one thrall at a time. Thralls were a heavy responsibility, so if Henry were going to be with a human it would be with free will or not at all. For once, Henry won, as Vicki looked away, a flush rising in her cheeks. Henry gentled his grip and rubbed Vicki’s arms. “Go help Mike,” he said in a soothing tone. “Maponus will stop taking children when he hears that people are looking for them.”

Vicki took a deep breath and exhaled as she let the reality of the situation settle into her mind. “Okay,” she agreed grudgingly. “But promise me you won’t move on the bastard without me.” She bit her lip hoping that he would agree to at least that small consolation. 

Henry’s eyes were drawn to Vicki’s mouth and the white teeth that shown against the full pink lip. He drew his own lip into a bite as hunger for her filled him. He wanted to bend down and claim that small piece of Vicki for his own; he wanted to run his tongue over that moist, warm flesh; he wanted to taste her. Instead he closed his eyes and turned away so she wouldn’t see the hunger. He took a moment to compose himself and ran his hands down over his clothes. “I promise,” he said when he regained control and turned back to look into her eyes once again. “You and Mike will be there. All that is going to happen tonight is that I will put out word I’m in the market. He’ll contact me and let me know where I can see what he has to offer.”

“How long will it take?” Vicki asked, her eyes narrowed into slits as she regarded him with suspicion; she could sense he was keeping something from her.

“If I don’t hear from him in three days he didn’t take the bait,” Henry said with a sigh.

Vicki’s eyes widened. “I thought this was a sure thing.”

“If there is anything I’ve learned in my long life, Vicki, it’s that nothing is sure. This is, however, our best chance of finding where he’s holding the children. If I can get word to him that I’m looking, he’ll contact me. There aren’t many demons that have as much cash as I do. Most use the bartering system. He’ll want to sell to me unless something scares him off. Money doesn’t carry the taint of the usual currency he’s paid in.” 

“Okay,” Vicki said. “I guess I can live with that. I’ll hit the streets and make some noise.”

****** 

Mike smiled when he saw Vicki walking toward his desk with more donuts and coffee. “What’s this, you need another favor?” He leaned back in his chair. His gaze raked her from head to foot. She was looking good. He was relieved to feel honest arousal when he looked at her. At least Henry’s…whatever it was…wasn’t making him into some kind of pansy. He still liked women. Liked some of them a hell of a lot.

“No, this is a thank you for past help. Can’t you tell the difference?” Vicki asked with a smile, and then her smile quickly faded as she got close enough to get a good look at Mike. “You look like shit,“ she said. “Did something happen last night?”

“Nothing happened pertinent to the missing kids,” Mike said, trying to change the subject of why he looked so haggard. Vicki was the last person he wanted to tell about his nightmares, or to let know he was having erotic dreams about a certain vampire. “Which begs the question, why the thank you? Did you find the girl?”

“No,” she said, putting the donuts and coffee down and sitting across from him with her hip propped on the corner of his desk so she could lean in closer. 

Mike could smell her, her shampoo, her body wash, her skin; they had danced like this for years.

Vicki snorted in practiced disgust. “Henry thinks he knows who has the kids. He’s trying to find out where they’re being held.”

“Who is it Vicki?” Mike said with an edge of anger to his voice. “You should have called me as soon as you found anything. You can’t withhold information from an ongoing case.” He reached for his jacket. “Let’s go.”

“Keep your voice down!” Vicki whispered.

“Oh shit,” Mike whispered back. “Did I get shipped to the twilight zone or something? Please don’t tell me they’ve been taken by a vampire because that would mean they’re dead.”

“No,” Vicki said. “Not a vampire. Henry thinks it was a demon who wants to sell them. He said there is a chance they could be sold to a child porno ring so you and I should keep doing our thing and he’ll pursue it from the demon angle.”

“Jesus, Vicki,” Mike said in an urgent whisper. “I want the kids back but I also want to catch this bastard and put him out of business.” The pull to go to Henry just got stronger. It was as if hearing his name ignited some fire deep in his gut. Burning hotter and hotter the longer he resisted it. And now there was a reason, a good reason, to go to him, to work with him, side by side, to find the missing children. “Henry can’t do this alone,” he said to her as they leaned together. He could still scent her, and yet, suddenly none of it did a thing for him anymore. He might as well be sniffing sour milk. All he had in his mind’s eye was Henry, long and lean, lying on his silk sheets in a spill of candlelight, his eyes dark pools of temptation. Mike clenched his hands into fists and shook his head to send away the wanton thoughts. Vicki hadn’t stopped talking while he had his little seizure. 

“Henry promised that we’d be in on anything that goes down. As far as putting this demon out of business, I’m pretty sure he has that covered.”

Mike gave a sarcastic huff, “And why is that?” he asked, transferring the anger at himself for the erotic imagination to Henry.

“Because he was upset about this whole thing. I don’t think he likes child predators much.”

“Yeah,” Mike scoffed. “Probably doesn’t like the competition.”

“He’s not a killer,” Vicki said. “And he’s not a Pedophile, either.” Her tone was a growling challenge.

“Yes, Vicki, he is a killer,” Mike insisted. “He just covers his tracks really well.”

“Why are you acting like this, Mike? Henry’s lived in Toronto for years, if he were a mass murderer you would have a lot of unexplained dead bodies. Also…he saved your life.”

“He told you that?” Mike looked surprised and Vicki knew immediately that Mike was hiding something.

“Yeah, of course he told me. He told me everything.” Vicki watched as Mike went white.

Mike saw Vicki’s face change from calculation to astonishment before settling back into her usual shrewdness. The deception shown only for a split second but he knew she was acting on a hunch. She’s tricked him into the revelation. Now she knew he was hiding something and knowing her, she wouldn’t stop until she figured it out. He couldn’t let her know the truth. “All he did was put pressure on my wound,” he offered as feeble diversion, thinking frantically of how to distract her more permanently.

“Okay, let’s stop playing games here,” Vicki said knowing she had been found out. “I know you’re hiding something and you know I know it, so out with it.”

“It’s personal!” Mike said out loud, because there was no way he was going to tell her. She would have to rip it out of his hide, word by word. 

“Oh shit, I knew it. You got dumped again.”

Mike was shocked at how close she was to the truth he seized onto the unexpected falsehood with both hands. “Well, this time I’m the dumper not the dumped. Only the dumped won’t stay dumped.”

“Henry is coming on to you?”

“Christ, Vicki, how the hell did you get that out of what I said?” Mike protested as his angry face turned white. “I never said anything about Henry.”

“From what you didn’t say and from the way that you said what you did.” Vicki shrugged. “You always complain to anyone who will listen when a woman dumps you. But you weren’t saying a thing, so why not? Add to that the way you’re acting toward Henry, it’s the only conclusion.”

“Jesus, Mary and Joseph.” Mike buried his face in his hands, shaking his head. Then he raised his face to look into her eyes. “No! I’m not going to let you do this. We aren’t going to talk about my private life. It’s private, end of story!”

Vicki just crossed her arms over her chest and waited.

Mike sighed. “Look, I’m just having nightmares, that’s all. I’m not sleeping well, that’s why I look like shit. So, can we just stick to the case and leave my personal life out of it?”

“Okay Mike,” Vicki said in a tone that made it clear it was only a temporary respite. She’d give him time and then when he least expected it, when his guard was down, she’d start picking at it again, until he told her everything. “I’ll let it pass for now, but you know I’m here for you, right?” 

“I know, Vicki,” Mike said with a melancholy smile. “You always are.”


	4. Chapter 4

The call had come in less than an hour ago. Lifting the receiver to his ear, Henry waited patiently for the verdict, not at all surprised when it came. Maponus wasn't known for his generosity, he was greedy. He would welcome the chance at the gold Henry had stored away.

"You are granted an audience," a deeply baritone, demonic voice said. It gave an address and time and then hung up. "Tonight." The last word lingered, as if the presence remained with Henry in his condo. He shivered.

Henry cradled the phone and stared off into space. As Sherlock Holmes would say, the game was afoot. He would have to be on alert, ready for anything. Being caught out would mean a death sentence. He didn't try to fool himself; he was no match for Maponus, not if they fought head to head. Henry would have to rely on deception.

******

Maponus settled back in his throne-like, bronze chair, his orange eyes gleaming warmly. His skin was fine grained, holding a touch of gold in the creamy brown, silken and so touchable. Henry found himself thrusting his hands deep down into his pockets to keep from reaching out. He remembered, when he had been a boy so long ago, touching Maponus, and worse… Maponus touching him, he never wanted to have that happen again.

The Pied Piper was sprawled in a graceful tangle of limbs. He smiled brightly as Henry entered the room and gestured towards an empty chair.

The room was filled with life sized, perfectly proportioned, marble sculptures of children. From pale white marble veined with silver and gold, to brown marble, threaded with bronze, and deepest black threaded with white, all colors of the rainbow. Posed in every position imaginable, running, sitting, reading, playing. Their sweet faces joyous, thoughtful, sleepy, even weeping. Henry averted his eyes, he felt them watching him, as if they were alive within the cold embrace of the stone, just waiting to breathe, trapped in some other world, waiting, waiting.

His skin crawled. Feeling a thousand eyes on his flesh. Like the sad little monuments in cemeteries gracing children's graves. Only these, his heightened senses told him, were alive. Hibernating until their fates were decided. He felt them knowing he was there as he ghosted past, careful not to touch a single one.

Henry sat on the well-cushioned chair, sinking into the luxurious upholstery. It was a shock each time he beheld this man, this demon. He had rarely encountered any being so beautiful. The smile directed his way was radiant, perfect and white, with teeth so bright that it always took a moment to see they were a fraction too sharp to be human.

Long, dark hair, glowing with blue highlights amid the black flowed down and across his shoulders, puddling in his lap. To the right of his chair a young child knelt on a crimson cushion. Her small hands, nimble and quick braided one stray lock of the demon's resplendent hair, the delicate movements precise. The child didn't look up, didn't acknowledge that Henry was in the room, but the vampire could feel the girl's awareness of his presence. Her body was tensed, as if to flee. But she would never run. Henry knew from experience, children didn't run from Maponus.

The child Henry was observing could not have been more than ten. Slender, naked but for Maponus' hair where the black strands draped over her. Her feet were tucked under her legs, and one finished braid looped a half dozen times around her neck. She braided the hair without hurry, careful and practiced. As if she had all the time in the world.

Henry looked away from her as she worked, feeling his sorrow about to overwhelm him. He had seen this kind of thing before, many times…too many times. There was no point in history when there weren't those who preyed on the young and weak. The innocent purity of children was only one more temptation. Never had Henry known a town, a city, or a world where it didn't happen. He recalled his own youth, when he had known such men and even one woman far too intimately. Not even being the king's bastard son had kept them from him.

"Vampire," Maponus said, his voice warm and rich, his hand trailing out to touch the bent head of the child who braided his hair. He caressed her cheek, his fingers long, agile and as beautiful as the rest of him. "I remember you. What business do we have, you and I?" His smile was welcoming.

Henry let his eyes wander back to the girl. "The kind all men who visit you have." He let his gaze linger for a moment on the slender, bare shoulders, and then permitted his attention to flick back up to the direct, orange eyes. "I cannot find what I need elsewhere, so I come to you."

Maponus' full lips crinkled in a new smile. "That kind of business." He lifted his hand, sliding his grip up the length of the flute that appeared, as if by magic in his lap. He stroked it with supple fingers.

"Tea?" he inquired sweetly.

Henry sniffed, feigning indifference, turning his gaze back to the child at Maponus' side. He couldn't see if it was the girl who Vicki sought. It hardly mattered. She was here, with the Piper. She needed to be freed.

"No? Then right to business." Maponus reached out and tapped a curved nail against the side of a small gong. The sound filled the room, and Maponus closed his eyes listening to the belling of the sound, not concealing his pleasure at the perfect pitch.

A second child appeared in the doorway. He was a year or two younger than the girl, had pale skin and disheveled brown curls. He advanced on the demon, with exacting steps, his gaze fixed on the floor, coming to a stop alongside Maponus' chair.

Maponus drew him near with a long fingered hand. Henry felt the connection at once. The boy reminded him of...Mike Celluci. The same ethnicity, the same hair, the skin, those eyes, and something in the way the child stood was like the detective's defensive stance.

Henry felt his heart thud reluctantly in his chest. He could be looking at Mike as a child. Mike, the one he wanted, craved, for his lover and more; the one his blood called to, here, in the hands of another, where he might be touched, handled by others. Henry was growling before he was aware of it. Mike was his.

"Ah." The Demon said, sniffing the air. "There lies your interest. A beautiful boy." He petted the boy as he fondled the flute that rested on his lap. Along its length, well over three feet by Henry's measure, runes glowed faintly amber, brightening with each stroke of the learned hand.

Henry looked at the instrument that had lured so many innocents to this hellish place. Maponus' fingers caressed the wood like a lover. Henry felt his body tighten. Those hands were too graceful, too knowing. Henry felt his own demon rise in reaction. He wrapped it around himself, insulating himself from the lure of the beautiful creature across from him. He had once been Maponus' prey, but he wouldn't be again.

He reminded himself that he was not a buyer. That he wasn't procuring a child for the kind of use Maponus believed. He was here to rescue a child. More than one if he could. He wanted the child, yes, Maponus felt it, but the other demon couldn't know why. He only felt the need in Henry. And Henry would use that against him. He would take every child he could from Maponus; all of them, every one.

"I will let you know," Maponus said, rising to his feet. He towered over the vampire, even when Henry stood. The demon's shirt billowed, showing bare skin, rich and fragrant, tempting. He looked down at Henry, smiling again, his eyes flashing their odd color as Henry met them. "I like you, Vampire. I really do."

Henry shivered as he watched the waves of black hair fall around the other man's body as if it were a living being itself. The tips of ivory horns peeked out at Maponus' temples like gilded jewels. The long flute angled up in those skilled hands, pointing at Henry's body. Maponus stroked the well-preserved wood and the runes shone golden bright. The scent of the demon surrounded Henry. Working its way into him, tickling his instincts, awakening desire. Urging him to step into the other creature’s space, to invite him to.... Henry growled, his eyes burning with his own dark fire.

Maponus bowed in defeat, eyeing Henry coyly. "Oh, too bad. It would have been good to find how you have changed since our last time. You were such a sweet boy." He swung around, his flute held close. "Ta." And he left Henry standing alone in the room as the two children trailed obediently after him. The girl risked looking back over her shoulder at Henry. Her eyes were begging him to do something. There was nothing he could do. He averted his eyes, ashamed.

Maponus was an equal opportunity sexual predator. A child. A man. A vampire; it didn't matter to him; he wanted to taste them all.

It was dark, unfriendly outside of the mansion. Henry had an urge to run but his pride kept him to a controlled, dignified pace. He felt

the chill shadows reach out, as if to grasp him with the same long, demonic fingers that Maponus had.

Henry kept to the path. His skin rippled, the hairs on the back of his

neck standing to attention. Someone was watching him, even out here, someone with strong magic. He forced his legs not to move any faster. If he showed fear it could be all the watcher needed to attack him. The impression of weakness would turn Henry from predator to prey in this place. And if it was Maponus who watched, it could also be the deal breaker.

He never heard the approach, but suddenly there was a teenaged boy at his side. Dark hair hanging down his narrow back, and into his eyes. Henry drew in a harsh, un-needed breath, crouching and raising his hands to face off with the new threat. Magic crawled over him, his skin, so warm and alive. The short white tunic the boy wore was obscured by what he was carrying. Henry gaped.

Two figures were shoved his way. He grabbed at them purely from instinct. They were larger together than the boy that had been carrying them. Such strength as that wasn't human by any stretch. Henry clutched at them, but never took his eyes off the potential threat. The boy spoke to him urgently.

"Take them away. Hurry. Go while you can." The raspy voice was breaking on the cusp of manhood. Henry gaped down at what he held, as understanding hit him. It was two of Maponus' stolen children, naked and very young. Then he looked up to question the boy. How had he done this? How had he wakened them from their marble sleep?

The boy was gone, nowhere in sight. Henry took the last offeredadvice and decided it was time to run. Behind him lights flickered on, more and more, and there was the barking of hounds in the distance. Henry ran faster.


	5. Chapter 5

Henry ran, desperate to put as much distance as possible between him and Maponus' lair. The feeling that he was being watched never left him. His back crawled with the sensation of malevolent eyes. 

 

He ran through the dark streets of the city, sticking to the shadows when he could, feeling the naked, shivering children pressed to either side of his body. He had to keep running, through the cold night; he had to escape...for them.

 

Up ahead he saw a haven, the park. It was dark and uninhabited tonight; he could stop there and call Vicki. It took him less than a thoughts time to reach the edge of the bushes and trees and melt into the shielding blackness with his two precious burdens.

 

He put the children down and wrapped them in his coat, adjusting it around them even as he reached for his cell phone. Thank god for modern conveniences. He dialed and then held the phone to his ear with one hand and hugged the children to him with the other, urging silently for Vicki to pick up at her end.

 

"Henry...?" He momentarily puzzled over how she knew it was him...then realized... caller ID.

 

"Vicki. I have two children with me. I'm in the park off the west rail station. I need a place to take them. It's too dangerous to stay outside..." It was too dangerous for many reasons, the impending dawn, Maponus and his hellions, concerned citizens, the police. What would the police think if he was caught "rescuing" two naked children in the dark of the night? They would never believe his story.

 

"The park's not far; bring them here."

 

"Where is here?" Henry enunciated clearly, with urgent patience.

 

"Mike's." She sounded surprised that he didn't know where Mike Celluci lived. He felt a rush of jealousy, thinking of her standing there, comfortable in the apartment of the man who was his. His lady. His man. He frowned. No, he told himself, stop. He had to keep his wits about him for now. Later he could lose it; be filled with the green emotion; just not now. 

 

"Tell me how to get there," Henry said, instead of all the other things he wanted to say.

 

She gave him rapid, very detailed directions to Mike's place; it was less than six blocks away. He could make it, even slowed down by the two children he carried and with dawn less than an hour away. He could get them there before the sun rose. Then what?

 

Would he have time to leave and go to his own condo? He growled unhappily. 

 

He flipped the phone closed after muttering he was on his way. He gathered up the two small humans, their pale legs dangling below his coat, and headed out of the dark safety of the park, keeping his ears and eyes open for trouble.

 

He made it, the children were quiescent in his arms, unresisting; not a single sound or wriggle. Shock, he thought, not blaming them, he understood all too well what being with Maponus meant. Yes, he knew, he knew. He would never forget, not if he lived to be a thousand.

 

He rapped on the back window, waited only long enough to count to three and then the glass slid up. It was a relief when he saw Mike's face peering cautiously out of the window and Vicki visible behind him. Mike reached down and Henry handed the small bodies up and watched them disappear inside and then he grasped the sill and was inside himself. Dawn was close. He couldn't leave; he had to stay.

 

 

Vicki looked up from where she was kneeling beside the kids. 

 

"Henry." He heard the urgency in her voice. "It is almost dawn. You have to leave."

 

"Can't; I'll never make it home in time."

 

The children whimpered and Vicki turned back to her task of wrapping them in blankets. She talked slow comforting sounds and words, touching them trying to make them feel safe.

 

Mike looked at her with adoration watching the mothering instinct, a side of Vicki that she rarely showed. 

 

Vicki looked up at Mike and smiled. "That big guy over there is Mike," she said to the children. "He's a policeman, you're safe now, no one here will hurt you."

 

Henry gritted his teeth. Damn it. He stepped in between Mike and Vicki's line of sight. He didn't want Mike to look at his ex-lover. He knew, all too well, Vicki's charms. He was attracted to her himself. A woman born of the twentieth century, she railed against her impending blindness and refused to let it have sway in her life. He was a man of the sixteenth century, trained to protect and cherish women of worth, and Vicki was a woman of worth. The vampire in him considered the woman his.

 

But it was Mike his blood called to and right now it was singing a siren's song. His eyes transferred to the man and took inventory as Mike picked up the phone and called the station; shoes, sock trousers, all in order. His tie was gone, not surprising at this hour, and the buttons of his shirt were undone at his throat leaving a triangle of smooth, olive toned skin exposed. Henry felt his blood heat. His tongue would fit there, in that little space, he longed to lick across the tender skin and pick up the rich flavor of the man.

 

 

"They're on their way." Mike Celluci said, snapping his phone shut. "The station is notifying CPS." His voice slowly became puzzled as he took in the scene, and felt the tension in the air. "What the hell is going on?" he asked.

 

Henry stood continuing to look at Mike, the tip of his tongue licked his lips.

 

"Shouldn't you go?" Mike asked. "I don't think you want to be here when they get here." 

 

"He can't," Vicki said. "It's too close to dawn. We'll have to find someplace to hide him. He'll pass out when the sun comes up. We don't want to explain a "dead" body to the police." 

 

Henry snarled. She wanted him away, away from Mike. He didn't wonder that she was concerned with his safety. He wasn't that rational. "No. I am staying."

 

"Staying?" She got to her feet, leaving the children cuddled together on the sofa. "Henry...how?" Her eyes were filled with questions. "Can you stay, without passing out?" 

 

"Yes," he said, tone rough, hard. "I can stay. As long as Mike is here, I can stay." And he could; it wouldn't be pretty and he would look and feel like shit, but as long as he could hear Mike's heartbeat he could force himself to ignore the call of the dawn... for as long as he had to. It was better than the alternative of leaving them here, together, without him. He ground his teeth together. "I'm staying." The need to touch his blood bond overwhelmed him and he reached out, got hold of Mike's forearm and dug in. The other man yelped.

 

"Christ! Let go!" Celluci exclaimed, trying to pull his arm away even as his body turned towards Henry's, moving so close they brushed, front to front.

 

"Wait. Mike. Don't pull away from him." It was Vicki on her feet, but not coming nearer. 

 

Henry growled his approval. 

 

"Just hold still, Mike." So she had picked up on it faster than the detective. Typical, Henry thought, his girl was fast.

 

Mike froze. 

 

Henry felt his fingers ease automatically. He leaned in close, zeroing in on the small exposed section of throat. His blood sang with the closeness of his desire. Henry's tongue flicked out as he rested his nose against the warm patch of Mike's skin 

 

"No." Mike said, suddenly feeling arousal and the pull to Henry stir within him. "Uh, uh. Not in front of the kids," he pleaded, even as he found himself unable to keep from leaning in toward Henry. "Shit, Don't do this to me, not now, not here," he whispered.

 

Vicki watched mesmerized by the desperation in Mike's voice; she saw his muscles tighten and his body begin to shiver.

 

"Mine," Henry said, as his teeth worried the delicate flesh of the detective's throat.

 

"What the fu..." Vicki said, catching herself, not wanting to swear in front of the already traumatized children. "Mike? I mean, what...?"

 

Henry shook the larger man, unable to resist the blood call. "Mine," he warned with a low snarl glaring at Vicki. The message was clear, Vicki was to keep her distance. 

 

Mike Celluci closed his eyes, his heart pounded, the vampire’s touch was an electric current cursing through his body. But it was too little to fill him; it was only a tease, he wanted and needed more. "Yours," he told the vampire. A surprising feeling of contentment washed over him as he spoke the word.

 

The pounding of a fist on the front door jolted Henry out of his fugue state. 

 

"They're here," Mike said. "You have to let go or there will be questions neither of us want to answer."

 

Henry's dark eyes met Mike's and he nodded. "Stay close, I need to hear your heartbeat." And then he let go.

 

"Celluci? You in there?" the smoke roughened voice of his lieutenant barked from the hallway.

 

"I'll get the door," Vicki said in a half strangled voice and fled the room.

 

*** 

 

Mike closed the door to the apartment and turned into the living room. "They're gone," he said with relief. His eyes focused on Henry standing in the middle of the floor as if frozen. "You look like shit," he said. "You need to lay down."

 

"I'm going to pass out," Henry said with his last bit of determination and then his eyes rolled up into his head and he crumpled like a house of cards. 

 

Mike leapt forward, moving even before Vicki saw the vampire's legs give out. He caught the lighter man before he hit the floor and lifted him into his arms. Mike looked up meeting Vicki's eyes. "Time for you to go," he said, with a hard take-charge edge to his voice.

 

"What?" Vicki asked, squinting at Mike and trying to read him in the too dark room whose curtains had been pulled tight against the morning sun. "Me? Leave? Last month you almost got him killed. She shook her head. "No way I'm leaving you two alone together."

 

"Vicki..." Celluci said as his arms began to ache from the strain of holding the unconscious Henry against his chest.

 

Vicki glared at the tall curly haired man. "What you know about vampires couldn't fill a thimble. You'll end up getting him killed, even if it's by accident he'll still be dead." She crossed her arms and shook her head. "Not on your life, Celluci. I'm not leaving him alone with you; not the way he's going to be." 

 

There was no point to arguing with Vicki when her mind was made up. He had to put Henry down some place safe. "Fine," Mike said, resigned, for the moment, to the fact the Vicki was going to stay and invade his privacy. He turned and carried Henry into the bedroom and laid him gently on the bed. When he straightened up Vicki was there watching and evaluating his every move. "Really, V, I'm not going to hurt him; I can't"

 

"Huh," she said with a sarcastic puff of air, all her doubts were expressed in that tiny sound. She moved to Henry's side and began to unbutton his shirt.

 

A wave of jealousy swept over Mike. It was too swift and too unexpected for Mike to counter and he grabbed Vicki's arm. "No! Stop that." Henry was his to care for and he moved Vicki away. "I'll do that, not you." 

 

Vicki squinted up at him. "You'll do it?" she said with a sarcastic laugh. "You, Celluci, undress another man?" She laughed again and shook her head. "That I'd like to see. No... I'd pay to see it."

 

Mike reddened to the roots of his hair. "Can't you just leave it, Vicki?" Mike pointed to the living room. "You were there, you heard him; I'm his. I can't hurt him, even if I wanted to, which I don't, I can't...I won't. It's my job to take care of him. So please... please leave us alone. I can't do this in front of you."

 

"I'm not leaving this apartment," she insisted stubbornly.

 

Mike looked down at Henry took a deep breathe and exhaled. "Then go to the dining room and close the door behind you," Mike said. He shook his head as he spoke. "I love you, Vicki, but right now I need..." He looked up and met Vicki's eyes. "I need to be alone with him."

 

"You need... to be alone with Henry?" She sounded incredulous.

 

Mike clenched his fist. "Yeah, hard as it is to believe." His voice was no longer friendly. "I've reached the end of my patience, you either walk into the living room yourself or I will pick you up and put you out of the apartment. Now go!"

 

She eyed him warily, but slowly nodded. "Okay, but don't lock the door or I'll break it down. I'll be on the couch if you... or Henry, need me." She turned and left the bedroom closing the door with a sharp click.

 

Mike stood looking down at the still clothed vampire. He unclenched his fists and bit his lip and then he sat down heavily on the edge of the bed. He felt as if all his strength had suddenly gone out of him. His hands were none too steady as he reached out and began to undue the buttons on Henry's shirt. He wasn't sure if the tremor in his hands was caused by fatigue or his need to hold the vampire in his arms. He worked carefully, removing all of Henry's clothing, and hung each piece over the back of a chair. When he was finished he look at the slim, pale body. It was attractive and well muscled, as if the vampire spent time in the gym every day. Mike slipped out of his own clothes, turned Henry on his side and spooned in behind him. The warmth of Henry's body surprised him. It wasn't as warm as a human's body but not room temperature either. There was comfort and contentment in clutching the vampire close against his naked torso, with their legs intertwined. It felt peaceful and right, as if he were where he belonged. Mike closed his eyes and fell into a serene asleep.


	6. Chapter 6

Mike woke up with a start as Henry gently stroked his arm where it was draped over the vampire's waist. He had one drowsy moment of utter contentment before he realized where he was and with whom. Mike jumped out of bed like a scalded cat and grabbed his clothes, struggling to get dressed as fast as possible without revealing too much of his nakedness to the dark eyes watching him.

 

Henry rolled onto his back, stretching languidly; he watched the detective fumble. He could tell Mike wanted to turn away, but that the usual, very male reflex, against turning his back on a potentially gay man was kicking in. straight men didn't offer opportunities like that. Henry smiled despite himself, knowing it would piss off the detective. Mike's expression went from sour to angry.

 

"Do you mind?" Mike asked, letting the anger show in his voice, but unable to stop the flush he could feel rising up in his face. He clutched his clothes in front of his groin and tried to pull on his underwear, one handed, without much success.

 

Henry shrugged and got out of bed. He stretched his muscles, like a great tawny cat, shivering with the ecstasy of getting his body moving.

 

"What are you doing?" Mike demanded as he watched the naked vampire walk to the chair that held his clothes. It was too close to where he stood, he shifted to keep Henry in front of him.

 

"It's sunset; I'm getting dressed. I'd take a shower but I have a distinct feeling that you would prefer I do that at home." Henry spoke in a mild, reasonable tone, no anger... no sly under meaning. Mike relaxed a fraction despite himself.

 

They finished dressing in silence and then Mike headed for the bedroom door while buttoning his shirt up to his throat. He didn't want any unnecessary skin showing.

 

"Mike," Henry said as Mike reached for the doorknob. "I'm sorry, I didn't want it to happen this way."

 

Mike seized the knob and squeezed it until he thought it would break off in his hand and then he whirled around and glared at Henry. "Nothing happened. We slept, that's all. Nothing...Happened!" His jaw was thrust forward, his eyes blazing dire threats. And under it all, Henry could see the fear.

 

"Except you held me in your arms while you slept," he said softly. It was best to not lie. Silence was one thing, speaking lies another altogether. Henry wouldn't lie, not even to keep Mike comfortable, and to call the day’s sleep in his blood bond's arms nothing was a lie.

 

"Yeah, well, it's over," Mike said, not quite able to feel a sense of relief. "I don't feel it any more. That blood call thing, it's gone." He made no attempt to hide his anger from his voice.

 

Henry took a step forward and Mike stepped back a sudden look of panic crossed his face as his back pressed against the door.

 

Henry stopped and scowled. "It's not gone, Mike. We're here together, that's why you don't feel any discomfort, but you do feel it. The bond is still there, I feel it and I know you do too."

 

"All I feel is rested and well for the first time since I got shot. I just needed a good night's sleep and I got one. This isn't going to happen again. You hear me? Never again." He grated out the last, his face stony and gaze narrowed into a glare.

 

"Hasn't anyone ever told you to never say never?" Henry asked, his voice a bare murmur tinged with a faint sadness. He'd seen this before, men who couldn't reconcile with the blood call. It never ended well. And there he was, using the word himself. No, this time it would be different. He knew the pitfalls. He would tread carefully, not push Mike into anything until he was ready. Not until Mike came to him. He raised his voice a bit, kept his eyes soft, not challenging and definitely not flirtatious. "It's going to get worse Mike, harder to resist. I won't come to you, you'll have to come to me, even if it's for nothing more than to sleep."

 

Mike's face turned dark and his teeth ground together. "Yeah, well don't count on it!" Mike said, as he turned and opened the bedroom door only to come face to face with Vicki.

 

"What's going on?" she asked, suspiciously. Mike's gut clenched.

 

"Let it slide, Vicki," Mike said, his hand pressing into his uncooperative belly hard.

 

"No way, I could hear you two arguing. Now what's going on?" She had that look he remembered from when they were partners, tenacious, a hungry dog with a particularly juicy bone.

 

"Mike and I have a blood bond, Vicki," Henry said as he walked out of the bedroom. He checked his cuffs as Mike glared. "That's all you need to know." Henry ignored Mike's glare.

 

The detective ground his teeth again. The blood bond was private and personal; he didn't want it discussed. He especially didn't want Vicki to know he felt a sexual attraction toward Henry. An attraction he had no intention of ever exploring. "That's enough. And it is bullshit. It's over. I told you."

 

Henry looked at Mike, his voice, when he spoke, sent waves of serenity washing over Mike. Mike gaped at him, feeling his whole being respond to the voice. It took him some few seconds to comprehend what was being said. Henry's eyes flicked to his.

 

"Vicki heard me call you mine and she heard you answer. We spent the night in a room together behind a closed door, a door you insisted be closed. She wasn't about to let that go. Now that she knows, we can get on to more important things. Like rescuing the children. There was someone else there last night. He looked like a boy about 13 years old but he was ancient, as old as time. He had strong magic; it rolled off of him in waves. He's the one that freed the children and gave them to me. We need to find out who he is and get his help. If he'll offer it."

 

"So this ‘Boy’ unlocked the door, choose to take two children, and locked the rest back up again?" Mike asked, unable to keep his skepticism out of his voice. Of course, it wasn't much weirder than anything else that happened around his vampire. Why couldn't anything be normal, just plain old ordinary? He missed ordinary.

 

"Not exactly," Henry said. "Maponus uses his magic to turn the children into marble statues. A human couldn't lift one of them alone while they are marble. I could lift one, maybe two, but I couldn't run with them. I saw 20 in the mansion and there may be more in other rooms. He can turn them back to children at will. This boy must also have the magic to turn them back. He stole two of them and gave them to me after I left the mansion," Henry explained seeing Vicki's eyes go sharp as she considered that.

 

"What will Maponus do if he discovers them missing?" Vicki asked. "Will he leave Toronto?" Unspoken was the question, would the demon take the children before they could be rescued?

 

"He knows the children are missing. I heard his minions start to look for them. But he also knows I can't turn the children back so they would be useless to me. He won't suspect me for that one reason alone. Add to that that I was on foot and couldn't get far carrying 2 marble statutes...As for leaving Toronto, I don't think he will leave until he sells the child, he thinks I desire, to me. He'll want gold, he knows I can get it but it will take time." Henry knew gold was irresistible to demons, the purer the better.

 

"What child?" Mike asked not hiding his anger. Something wasn't right here. He wasn't ready for the answer he got. Or for the wave of rage that washed over him. His hands were shaking as Henry replied.

 

 

"I had to feign interest in buying a child from Maponus. It was the only way I could get to him." Henry said.

 

 

"You're hiding something," Mike said. "What does this feigning interest involve? What did you do?" He seemed helpless to keep the rising fury out of his voice.

 

 

"I didn't touch the child, Mike. Other then that you don't need to know," Henry said with profound sadness to his voice. There was no reason for Mike to know of his past with Maponus or of the boy that reminded him so strongly of Mike. "Some things are best left alone."

 

 

Mike blinked at the depth of emotion he felt coming from Henry. He drew in a harsh breath and fought to get himself under control. What the hell was wrong with him? He didn't expect feelings from the vampire, certainly not this depth of emotion. There was more to Henry then he had ever suspected.

 

"So, we have to find this boy," Vicki said, wanting to distract the two men before Mike's anger overwhelmed him. "I can have Coreen research him. If anyone can find out about him she can." 

 

"He was dressed in white, a Grecian toga I think, and he glowed with a white light, dark hair, violet eyes, about 5 ft tall. He was strong, strong enough to carry two children, fast and silent. I didn't see any more. He handed the children to me and disappeared, faster than humanly possible. Faster than me."

 

"I'll have Coreen get right on it," Vicki said, face determined. There was no way she was going to let the demon leave with a single child in his possession. Not if she could help it.

 

"Good," Henry said. "I need to get something to eat and then go back to my place and wait for Maponus to call. Let me know as soon as Coreen has anything." He turned to go.

 

"You're going to feed?" Mike asked before Henry could open the door. He wasn't sure if the question came from jealously or from the detective part of him wanting to protect the public. 

 

"I have to feed, Mike, but if you offer...?" Henry cocked his head and smiled coquettishly.

 

Mike's expression became annoyed. "You expect me to let you walk out of here knowing you are going to tear some one's throat out? Drain their blood?"

 

"I'm not going to kill anyone; you should know that. I didn't kill you or Vicki, I just fed." Henry said reasonably leaning against the door. 

 

And there was that voice again, serenity washed over Mike. He brushed it off. Glowering, he shook his head, putting a hand out to rest on the back of a chair to steady himself. He leaned forward as if there was an invisible line between Henry and himself. Henry lifted his chin, lips barely parted and waited.

 

Vicki watched, mesmerized by the interaction of the two men.

 

"You expect me to believe that?" Mike asked. His voice was hoarse, his fingers were digging into the upholstery.

 

"I can't lie to you, you would feel it," Henry said, his voice pitched low, intimate, and Mike knew it was meant only for him.

 

"I repeat; you expect me to believe that?" he said, defensively. He didn't want the other man to leave. He wanted Henry to stay. But there was no way he was going to tell him that. No way in hell.

 

"Then ask me the last time I killed," Henry challenged.

 

"Okay, when was the last time you killed?" Mike asked. Knowing he wasn't going to like what he heard.

 

"The night before last," Henry replied with utter calm.

 

"Huh?" Vicki gasped; his words were cold, chilling and utterly believable. But wasn't she with Henry that night, out hunting down clues? She was sure...unless he'd had someone in his condo that night. Someone he'd killed. Her skin rippled.

 

Mike turned to Vicki, his face an absolute mirror of shock. "He's lying. He's right I can feel it. My god." He pointed at Henry. "What are you doing to me?" Mike balled his hands into fists. "I don't want any of this. Get the hell out."

 

"I need to go," Henry said, as if Mike hadn't ordered him out anyway.

 

Henry opened the door and paused in the doorway, he couldn't leave without offering some comfort to Mike. "They are only food, those others who I bite," he said quietly. "I feed and then I make them forget.


	7. Chapter 7

Coreen let the huge book slip from her fingers and land on top of Vicki's old desk with a resounding thump. Papers scattered from the impact and Vicki jumped, startled from her reverie.

 

She blinked at the huge leather tome, complete with leather hinges for a binding, and then she looked up at the grinning girl standing over her, thickly mascaraed eyes and pale pancake making her face a bit eerie, but her grin was pure and honest and excited.

 

"So. Here it is. The Book," Coreen said, sitting on the corner of the desk, looking very pleased with herself.

 

Vicki looked at her, frowning. "The book?" Not missing the inflection. She looked at the worn, leather bound monstrosity and sniffed in the musty odor. "Eh," she said. "It stinks."

 

"It's old," Coreen said, petting the cracked cover affectionately. "Really, really old and valuable. I only got it on a loan. You have no idea of the trouble I went to just to find out this book existed, not to mention finding the person who owned it." She smiled. "Seems your demon marks are good for something. Everyone who is anyone has heard of you. The necromancer-guy was more than happy to give us a temporary loan based on your rep."

 

Vicki narrowed her eyes. "Why don't I believe that?" she asked, sighing. 

 

"Well, your rep and a favor to be named later." She stood up and backed away at the glare that Vicki shot her way. "Nothing illegal, I promise. I made that clear, you are all about being legal. I get that." 

 

Which wasn't true any more, but Vicki managed to stop the denial from leaving her lips by pressing them firmly shut. Nothing good could be gained from telling Coreen that kind of thing. Vicki didn't want to get in debt for illegal favors, after all. She pointed at the obviously well thumbed tome.

 

"So what good is this thing to us?" she asked, curious and needing a diversion, too.

 

"It has the ritual," Coreen announced triumphantly, daring to inch back to her previous spot on the corner of Vicki's ancient desk. It creaked as she settled a hip onto the wooden top. Vicki's look made it pretty evident she hadn't any idea what the secretary/research assistant was talking about. "Coreen, I'm tired; maybe you could try making a little sense. Like something a four year old could understand, please?"

 

Coreen rolled her eyes. "Okay, from the beginning. Elon-beth-hanan is Maponus' antithesis. He's the demon who gave Henry those kids who were rescued."

 

"He's an Anti-demon?" Vicki asked, confident the answer would be yes.

 

Again Coreen shook her head. "Not at all, he's a demon. There isn't any true classification of anti-demon. Demon is a species designation. E-b-h is a demon. Just like Maponus."

 

"No. He isn't just like Maponus," Vicki said, her skin crawling at the memory of what Henry had told her about what Maponus did. "The boy does good."

 

"He does what we... perceive... as good. But that isn't his raison d' etre, his reason for being. His reason for existing is to thwart Maponus, just as Maponus' is to thwart Elon. They were created together to be a harmonious whole. Together they make a balance. One can not exist without the other."

 

Vicki blinked up at the innocent face of the young woman seated on her desk top. "Uh, that is just..." She shook her head. The idea didn't sit well with her. The concept of good and evil was well ingrained in her. She had lived by that philosophy when she was a cop, and still subscribed to it now. There were things that were right and things that were wrong. The idea that is was all a matter of balance...no. She wouldn't go so far as to try to understand that; it sounded too much like the things that Henry said from time to time. That pulled her up short. And Henry was a demon as well as partly human. He'd been fully human once, a long time ago. And for nearly five hundred years he'd been a demon. She frowned.

 

"Any way..." Coreen breezed on, interrupting Vicki’s unhappy thoughts. "We need to make a ritual summoning of Elon-beth-hanan so we can ask for his assistance."

 

"What?" Vicki wondered aloud. "Why?" That name again. It sounded biblical. It sounded...good to her ear. Safe.

 

"We need his help to rescue the kids," Coreen said. "Maponus puts them in a state of suspended animation, he changes them into marble statues where they don't age until he re-awakens them. Like refrigerating vegetables, or freezing ice cream. You can take the kids from Maponus in statue form, but you have no way of waking them." 

 

She had Vicki's full attention, the freezer analogy was, well, yuck.

 

"Maponus and E-b-h are the only ones that can turn them back into children," Coreen concluded. 

 

"So, your saying there is no way to get the kids back alive, as children?" Vicki asked, hoping she was wrong.

 

"We can summon Elon and entreat him for his help," Coreen said, a wide grin plastered on her face.

 

"And he helps us? Just like that?" Vicki asked, suspicious. Nothing was that easy, not even buying a pack of gum.

 

"No. We have to make a sacrifice."

 

"Sacrifice?" This wasn't sounding good at all. "Sacrifice what?"

 

"Well it can be anything from worship, to service, to a blood sacrifice, or gold; demons love gold."

 

Which was the same thing Henry had said about Maponus. "If they like gold so much, why don't they go dig it up themselves?"

 

Coreen shook her head. "They can't. It has to be offered to them. It is a universal law." She seemed disappointed that Vicki didn't know that already. Vicki shot her an incredulous look.

 

"Really? You wouldn't just be pulling my leg, right?" It sounded strange. But what hadn't been strange in her experience since she'd met Henry. Everything was changed. Like Mike and Henry.... she shut that door with a mental slam. No. She wasn't going to fall into that mire again.

 

Coreen saw the look on her employer's face and leaned in. "What is it? What have they done now?" she asked her tone low and excited, eager.

 

"Who?" Vicki asked, caught unprepared. 

 

"Them, the boys? They are the only ones who can put that look on your face."

 

"Nothing," Vicki protested. "It isn't them."

 

Coreen looked disappointed. She shrugged. "So, don't tell me." She managed to sound both injured and wronged.

 

Vicki sighed. "Look, I can't explain. They'd kill me." 

 

Coreen's eyes flared with rabid interest. 

 

"It's private, ”Vicki said, “between them. Just let it lay!"

 

"Oh! Please, I won't tell a soul, you can trust me," Coreen said, wheedlingly, licking her lips.

 

"Christ!" Vicki put a hand to her face, fingers searching up under her glasses. Rubbing the bridge of her nose. A headache was forming behind her eyes.

 

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

 

Mike Celluci prowled along the deserted sidewalk behind the building that housed Henry's upscale and very expensive condo. It wasn't really fair that the vampire could afford these kind of digs while Mike, despite his lack of a social life, couldn't save up enough to buy a far cheaper one way across town in the less affluent neighborhoods.

 

Henry lived like a king. Or, rather like a king's bastard son. No castle, just a posh building with a doorman, security and furnishings that cost more than Mike would make in a decade. Antiques. Gold. And he had the looks to go with it. He could get any babe in the city to spin on her heel to keep him in sight. The way he moved. The way he looked into your eyes. The way he smelled. Mike swallowed. Oh, god. The way Henry smelled. His eyes drifted closed, remembering that scent. Recalling waking with his nose pressed into the hollow of Henry's throat. Scenting that special scent that was Henry.

 

"Keep your hands where I can see them." The barked order caught him completely by surprise. As did the blare of blinding white floodlights that stabbed into his eyes as he spun around. 

 

"Don't move!" came the shouted command. "Up against the wall, hands over your head."

 

Mike obeyed, momentarily disoriented, his mind scrambling to get up to speed. "I'm a cop, Detective Mike Celluci," he said, as the cop to his left approached with his gun trained on the center of Mike's back. The spot he was aiming, right smack between Celluci's shoulder blades itched like crazy. "I have a gun. My ID is in the left breast pocket of my suit jacket."

 

He didn't move an inch even before the young cop reached in for the wallet that held his badge and warrant card. He heard the snap of the wallet closing after several, too long, moments.

 

"What are you doing here, sir?" the cop asked, in a friendlier tone. "It's dark down here; you could run into some serious trouble. Cut the floods." The last he delivered over his shoulder at his partner who had stayed back by the car in case Mike had been trouble himself. Out of reach but able to get in a kill shot if needed.

 

Mike was pissed at himself for being too distracted to even notice the car as it pulled up behind him while he paced. "Yeah," he said. Then he couldn't think of anything else to say. He and the young cop stood facing each other. Mike felt himself flush.

 

"Girlfriend trouble?" The young man volunteered the opening, rather gently. "It can be tough. But you should keep your wits about you, sir. Like I said, it isn't safe, not even in this neighborhood, not this late."

 

"He's not a girl," Mike snapped, still embarrassed at being caught by surprise by two rookies. Jesus, he deserved to be shot. 

 

"Yeah," the blond officer said, his tone taking on a new timbre. Mike frowned at him, puzzled. What was wrong now? The big guy was taking a step back, his expression no longer open and friendly, more wary. 

 

Then it hit Mike. What he'd said. "Oh, shit. No, the guy's just a buddy from school, he drinks too much." Mike could hear how lame it sounded and gave an inner moan.

 

"Yeah," the officer said as he handed him back his shield. "Well you have a good night, then, Detective Celluci." And while Mike watched, he turned and

strode back to the passenger side of the police cruiser.

 

 

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

 

 

After the disastrous encounter with the two patrolling officers, Mike decided he needed to get off the street. Before something worse happened, though what would be worse was hard to imagine. He'd left two of Toronto's finest with the impression he was homosexual, and pining over a boyfriend. He ground his teeth together. Mike had no illusions how long that juicy tidbit would remain a secret. It was too hot not to become gossip.

 

The girls were already late so they would not be much longer, if he went upstairs now he wouldn't be with Henry alone for that long. Surely he could hold his own for fifteen minutes. Or ten.

 

 

This time the doorman had Mike's name as an approved visitor and would have gladly unlocked the elevator for him but he decided to climb the stairs anyway, one reluctant, dragging step after the other; hoping all the way that Vicki and Coreen would arrive and take the elevator up, beating him to Henry's apartment. No such luck. When he got to Henry's floor the door opened without benefit of his knock. He knew he should be used to it but it still bothered him. Knowing Henry sensed him coming even when the vampire wasn't deliberately listening. 

 

Beautifully attired in watered silk and perfectly tailored slacks, Henry stood patiently, smiling a small, almost sad smile at him as Mike fidgeted in the hallway, not wanting to go inside. Henry's brow rose, challenging him. Henry stepped back and looked at Mike, inviting him in and giving him just enough space to do so.

 

"How are you Mike?" he asked, as Mike entered the apartment far enough to allow Henry to close the door behind him. 

 

"You already know the answer to that, so why ask?" Mike said with a scowl. He clutched the front of his long, wool trench coat closed. One more layer of protection against the vampire's advances should they come. Unwelcome advances, Mike thought, even as he inhaled the familiar, alluring scent of Henry so close and personal again, even as his hair stood on end, even as the sensation rushed over him, shivering over his skin. 

 

Henry tilted his head and looked up at Mike, his lips were full, tempting, and lush. Mike tore his gaze away from them. "You know I care about you, don't you?" Henry asked the question, a murmur that nevertheless Mike heard loud and clear, while Henry's eyes met Mike's.

 

Heat washed over the detective's body, lodging in his groin, coiling there like it belonged. His hands itched to reach out, only a few inches, and wrap his hands around Henry's arms. Hold him. Feel him through a thin layer of slippery, midnight blue silk. "You care about power," Mike said, balling his hands into fists to prevent himself from touching the vampire.

 

"I'm a vampire, a lot of what I am is about power but I care about you, Mike. If all I wanted was power over you, you'd have been naked and on your knees before me as soon as you left the hospital." 

 

Nothing in Henry’s expression gave Mike the impression the scene wasn't possible; Henry knew it was, and the certainty transmitted itself to Mike, he felt like he was going to throw up. "I'll never get on my knees to you," he said, his face red with anger. "Fuck you, Henry Fitzroy. You want a whore to suck your dick...I'm not your man." The words were ground out, from between gritted teeth, fueled with honest rage. Mike would die before he'd kneel down and suck anyone. Any man. And that included vampires. Present company not excepted.

 

"And I'll never ask you to. That's not what I want. Not from you," Henry said. And he was closer. Mike was up against the door, his fists falling away from the edges of his coat. He felt the heat of Henry's chest against the backs of his hands, the slide of smooth silk seeming only to further heat the contact.

 

Henry's calm, soothing voice washed over Mike. Henry was telling the truth and Mike could feel the unspoken promise in the words; but he didn't want to let go of his anger, not after what had just happened on the street and he grabbed on to it.

 

His hands spread out over Henry's chest. He felt the press of peaked nipples against his palms as his hands turned involuntarily, cupping over the muscles of the slender, strong chest. Mike thrust his hands out, pushing at Henry, not stopping until there was a foot of space between their bodies. Nothing touching. All but his hands, his fingers crumpling the fine material.

 

"What do you want?" The words were flung at Henry with seething rage. He wanted to let go, he did. But he couldn't. His hands remained against Henry's chest. Holding him, staying in contact as much as keeping him at a distance.

 

Henry raised his own hands, letting his fingers fold over Mike's covered forearms. Mike felt the pleasure of the contact skitter up his arms and jangle his nerves.

 

Henry leaned in. "The problem with immortality is that it gets lonely. I want a partner, someone to share a life with, someone to hold and someone who will hold me in return. A noble man, of noble spirit, the other kind of wealth makes no difference to me. I want a man of good strong heart and character. A man I can look up to, a man worthy of my heart and my devotion.

 

 

Mike held on to his anger as tight as he could, until he was shaking, but it seemed to be slipping through his fingers, growing less and less with each stroke of Henry's fingers along his bared wrists, wiggling over his skin under the long sleeves of his coat and jacket. He hadn't expected the vampire to say those words, they were almost...romantic. He felt the first stirring of heat in his groin.

 

Desperately Mike scoffed, trying to resist the sense of warmth that threatened to find its way deeper. This was a man speaking to him. A vampire. What the hell was he thinking, liking it? "Lonely? What about all the people that you feed off of?" He pictured them, a line that stretched to the horizon, unbroken, after five hundred years, too many to count.

 

"I told you," Henry said, as he watched Mike's anger dissipate, "I drink from them and then I make them forget. Even those few who can remember me matter less than nothing. The mark that I leave behind is no more than a status symbol to them. I mean nothing to them but what they can use me for."

 

"Use you? You bite them and drink their blood and you accuse them of using you? That would be funny if it weren't so obvious you actually believe what you are saying." Mike watched as Henry's hand came up to his own, carefully unfolding his fingers. Henry raised Mike's hand and put it against his own cheek. He lifted dark eyes, framed by startlingly long, thick lashes to Mike's dilated blue gaze.

 

"It's true," Henry said, turning his head, without losing eye contact, and letting his mouth rest against Mike's cupped palm. Not a kiss. Not quite, but intimate. "They gain status among their group and their blood is payment for that status." Mike was mesmerized, fixated on Henry's full mouth.

 

Henry spoke again. "I take nothing without giving something in return."

 

The electricity of Henry's touch filled Mike's body and his anger dissolved. Mike closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Stop it. Vicki and Coreen should be here by now. I should call and make sure they are okay."

 

Unspoken was the plea not to let them see this, see Mike with Henry, touching this way. What Henry could do to Mike, Mike could bear, not like it, but bear it, as long as it was a secret between only the two of them.

 

"They' re fine," Henry said, the warmth of his breath puffing against Mike's skin. "Coreen just had some trouble finding an herb we need for the summoning. They called and asked me to let you know when you arrived. They should be here in about half an hour." His eyes asked something more. Mike shied away from answering the question. He wrenched his hand away, curling it into his belly and striding away from Henry.

 

Mike walked over and sat down on the couch rubbing the scar on his leg. The pain was grounding. "Okay, I'll wait," he said with a sigh."I guess that's all I can do." He glared at Henry when the vampire seemed about to take a seat next to him. Henry relented and sat at the other end of the long couch facing the detective, one leg folded under him.

 

There was a long silence.

 

"I have beer," Henry said, at last. "Would you like some?" 

 

Mike looked at Henry. "Yeah," he said with a sarcastic laugh. "That's us, just two guys having a beer, waiting for the girls to arrive."

 

But he did want the beer, and Henry could hear it in his tone. Henry rose to go get it.


	8. Chapter 8

A crash sounded out in the hall; in the apartment they could hear Coreen swearing and a moment later Vicki joined in. There was a thud against the wall and then a scrabbling sound at the door. Mike startled and pushed away from Henry; no way was he going to let the girls catch him close to Henry. Not even if it did ~hurt~ to pull away from the vampire.

 

Vicki was leaning against the door trying to knock when Mike got it open. Her arms were filled with ~things~. Behind her he could see, as she fell into the room with another curse, Coreen no less laden with bags.

 

Mike caught Vicki as she nearly fell. She suddenly let go of all of the bags and they tumbled to the floor. She stood off to one side, as Coreen, blinded by her own armful, stumbled. Mike grabbed for her only to find Henry there already. Henry’s body brushed his, the warmth of the contact lingering, though Mike pulled away quickly.

 

Mike surveyed the twin piles. “We need all this?” He asked incredulous.

 

Coreen brushed her hands together briskly. She smiled at Henry who had let go of her arm now that she was steady, but he hadn’t yet moved away from her. 

 

“Hi,” she said, her voice taking on a lower pitch that had Mike’s brows crawling for his hairline. Mike felt his mouth turn down; her voice was a bit too flirtatious for his liking.

 

‘Shit,’ he thought. Mike spun on his heel and practically ran for the kitchen; he had to get out of there before the girls noticed his reaction. “Want a beer?” he tossed over his shoulder to cover his quick retreat.

 

“Yes, I need one,” Vicki said, following closely on his heels. “Did you see all that stuff? I’ve no idea what any of it is for. Except the knife; I know what that is for.” Her voice held a grumble. Lately when there was a knife involved it was all about her being the one cut. Something to do with the demon marks making her especially tasty.

 

Mike handed her a cold bottle, some fancy import label. ‘Trust Henry,’ he thought, ‘not even the normal stuff to drink, something too expensive.’ Which brought to mind… Henry was drinking beer not blood. Mike hadn’t known that was possible. He thought that vampires only drank blood.

 

“Coreen?” Vicki called out. “Want something to drink?” 

 

Mike turned and frowned. He’d thought Coreen was right behind them, not left in the living room with Henry…alone with Henry… Mike grabbed several bottles from the fridge and was on his way back to the living room before he heard Coreen’s “Yes,” floating through the air.

 

The girl was still gazing up into Henry’s eyes, her face open and animated as she chattered away and the son-of-a-bitch was smiling back. He actually looked interested in what she was saying, which made Coreen lean in, her gaze softened, her breath quickened.

 

‘Damn it,’ Mike thought and he was over there like a shot, an unvoiced snarl rumbling in his chest. He pushed one of the beers into Coreen’s hand and then turned to Henry. “Let’s sit,” Mike whispered between clenched teeth, his voice pitched for the vampire’s ears alone. 

 

Henry’s bright eyes turned to Mike, they held understanding along with a bit of amusement, but he nodded and led the way to the two-seater couch and sat down.

He looked up at Mike, his head tilted, eyes dancing with an invitation to join him, and a question, did he dare?

 

‘Great,’ Mike thought as he settled in beside the vampire. ‘Now I have to be a chaperone as well as sit through some weird kind of séance-y, spell thing.’

 

“So,” Henry said looking down at the pile of bags on the floor. “We need all of this?”

 

“Yes,” Coreen said as she sat down on the carpet at the vampire’s feet, next to the bags and began unloading the items.

 

Mike glared at the dark-haired witch, her hip rested too close to the vampire’s foot.

 

Vicki was watching too, taking small sips from her imported beer. She was watching Henry and then her eyes slid to Mike.

 

Mike felt Vicki looking at him and he met her eyes. There was something in their depths that was invasive. He looked away and forced himself to concentrate on the contents of the bags.

 

There seemed to be some kind of order that Coreen was maintaining as she placed the sealed plastic bags carefully on the floor.

 

“What is that?” Mike asked suddenly, knowing he was not going to like the answer.

 

Coreen held up a small, very white, plain cotton shift. It would fit her or Vicki with the hem ending at the midpoint of their thighs. There were four of them and that meant Mike was going to be expected to try and fit into one himself. He was the tallest and broadest, yet all the shifts seemed to be the same size. No way would one of those cover his vital areas.

 

“For us? Why?” Vicki asked, her face showing how much she didn’t want to hear the answer.

 

“This is the summoning of a demon. You have to be clean and pure. First we wash and then shower with salt. It feels really good actually, smoothing out the skin, but it also washes away impurities. Then we wear these.” Coreen held it up again. “Nothing else. You have to take off everything, watches, jewelry, makeup; all of it.”

 

“Naked,” Mike said and thought he was going to go right up a tree, because what could be more uncomfortable than getting practically naked with Henry and two female colleagues. 

 

“Not naked,” Coreen corrected with a grin. “We’ll have these on, but yes nothing underneath. Then… the salt circle and sage.” She set out two enormous bags of a gray green powdered herb. Mike caught the whiff of it, a Thanksgiving smell. A thick walled brazier followed, big enough to fit a turkey with all that sage in it, though it was shaped wrong to be a cooking pot, wide opened and flattened. Then came candles and a knife, of course. Next Coreen took out a tablecloth, black, huge and round, like for a banquet table and then more herbs.

 

Mike watched, speechless. He looked around; no one was going to say anything about having to wear the shifts, not even to point out that they wouldn’t cover that much more than a few hankies.

 

***

 

Mike scowled at himself in Henry’s master bathroom mirror; he was not happy with what he saw. The white cotton shift was much too small for a man of his stature to wear. It was barely the length of a miniskirt, the kind that was only permissible on a shapeless teenage girl with legs like sticks; anyone else would look naked. Add to that, that the fabric was filmy and he could see the dark shadow of his pubic hair if he squinted just a little. He tugged at it futilely as his expression turned even more sour.

 

He had made sure to end his shower with a thorough dose of cold water to take advantage of shrinkage. It wouldn’t do to have his manly parts peeking out below the hem for Coreen and Vicki to see; or worse, for them to suddenly stand at attention. But all that cold water couldn’t help when the shift was just too damn short. He frowned at his reflection. He had a choice, he thought, tugging at the hem again, either he could show off his genitals, or his ass. Neither option appealed to him so he took the slip off.

 

“Mike,” Coreen called all excited and enthusiastic. 

 

Immediately Mike checked the lock on the door, holding the wadded shift in front of his crotch. Last thing he needed was her bursting into the room and finding him like this. “It figures the little witch would find this fun,” Mike muttered under his breath. He held the little scrap of fabric in his hand considering it. Then he shook it out, untied the knots at each shoulder and re-tied them at his waist. It looked like a cross between a kilt and a loincloth, but it covered him from waist to knees. It was the best solution, even if the flimsy fabric was still drafty. Briefly he contemplated tying it closed between his legs as well, but on reflection he decided that would look too much like a baggy diaper.

 

“You have to come out now,” Coreen called again; there was a tone of mild anxiety in her voice. “It’s almost midnight.”

 

Mike reminded himself he was doing this to save the imprisoned children, steeled himself, opened the bathroom door and walked into the living room. It took every ounce of his will power not to hold his hands protectively in front of his groin, which felt every bit as exposed as if her were wearing nothing at all. Ten seconds later the feeling was forgotten as he gaped at the sight that greeted him.

 

He thought he had prepared himself for what he would see, but he had been wrong. Vicki looked beautiful, as expected, in her short-skirted shift. She was a slender and strong Athena, a goddess of war; her long slim arms, well muscled and lithe, dangerous looking, she was as sleek and tawny as a hunting cat. The shift floated around her hips, the act of breathing causing it to ripple lovingly over her skin. But there was no smile on her face; she was grim and determined. Mike knew her only thoughts, right now, were of the children.

 

Mike tore his eyes away from Vicki, but refusing to look at Henry, he turned his gaze to Coreen. His face flushed as he took in the way the fine woven cotton slid into the valley between her high, firm breasts. Her erect nipples were sweet temptation pressed as they were against the fabric. Unconsciously Mike licked his lips and then tore his eyes away from the sight.

 

Coreen was bubbly with a broad smile, as she looked Mike up and down. “Perfect,” she pronounced.

 

“Oh, I agree,” Henry said with a flirtatious look of appreciation. 

 

Mike’s gaze snapped over to Henry, surprised to see that Henry was looking at him and not at the women. Mike’s jaw jumped as he took in the vampire. His shift covered the essentials but just barely. The vampire was taking it all in stride. He seemed to be standing at just the right angle to show off his soft pale skin over hard toned muscle and the surprisingly sensual bare feet. The look Henry gave him sent blood rushing to his crotch; Mike gave a silent inner moan and put his hands in front of himself like a shield. He forced himself to look away from the vampire, even as he felt his own nipples tighten to coppery points. Desperate for a distraction he looked around at the room.

 

The furniture had been pushed back to leave the center of the living room bare for the summoning. The large black tablecloth lay spread out on the floor, four ivory pillar candles, representing North, South, East and West, were arranged around the edge; each candle was circled by a different herb. A wide mouthed copper brazier was in the middle of the arrangement, unlit, with another circle of herbs surrounding it. There was a small rune carved pulpit set up at the south candle and the Book of Summoning lay open on top of it.

 

Coreen was literally bouncing with excitement. Mike paled at the sight of her young, lushly endowed body all atremble under her barely-there covering.

 

“Okay, listen up, here’s what we need to do. Everyone in the circle has to make a sacrifice, for the humans it has to come from their body so E.b.h. can see you when he comes,” Coreen prattled on. “Henry you stand at the East candle, I’m the Wiccan so I’ll stand at the South candle and read the incantation. Vicki you are at the West candle and Mike you’re North. When I start reading Henry will put our gold offering inside the herb circle then he will pick up the knife and cut off a small bit of hair and drop it into the brazier. Then he hands the knife to me and I add my hair, next Vicki adds her hair and hands the knife to Mike. Mike, when you get the knife you cut yourself and drop four drops of blood…”

 

“Whoa, there,” Mike said. “I’m not cutting myself with that knife. God only knows where that thing has been. I’m not risking an infection.” He wasn’t going to admit it, but he doubted that he could cut himself, with that knife, or any other for that matter. He spent too much time trying not to be cut, stabbed, shot or otherwise mutilated in his job, to deliberately cut himself. 

 

“Mike, we need blood,” Coreen said, with mild exasperation at his refusal. You’re North, it has to be you and you have to use the ceremonial knife.” She held it out; it’s blade gleaming with cold, silver reflection. “It’s perfectly clean.”

 

“It ‘looks’ perfectly clean,” Mike said letting his anger show in his voice. “But I doubt if it has ever seen the inside of an autoclave.”

 

“I’ll do it,” Vicki said, determined to get the summoning underway. “Change places with me, Mike.” 

 

“No, he can’t,” Coreen said. “We have to be balanced. North, South, male, female, East, West, male, female.”

 

“I’ll do it,” Henry said. “Mike can change places with me.”

 

“No, he can’t,” Coreen repeated, speaking very patiently. “The offering has to come from the East. It belongs to you Henry so unless Mike has some gold he wants to give in offering you have to do it.”

 

“Mike,” Vicki said, “We’re doing this for the children, isn’t it worth the risk?” She was staring at him, her eyes serious as hell behind the lenses of her glasses.

 

“There isn’t any risk,” Henry said. He looked into Mike’s eyes; it was as potent as a caress, that look. 

Mike felt his heart rate pick up.

 

“I’ll make sure there’s no infection,” Henry said. “I promise. We have to do this now or we will miss the time window.” Henry put his hand on Mike’s shoulder, he leaned in and whispered, “A noble man of noble spirit, your blood is worthy.” It was not possible to miss the hunger in his words.

 

Mike closed his eyes and took a deep breath, as the warmth of Henry’s hand seemed to calm his nervousness. He could feel the power of the vampire’s blood call and his heart pounded in answer. He opened his eyes and looked at Coreen, he refused to look at Henry again. “Fine, I’m ready,” he said. “Do it now, before I change my mind.”

 

“Just one more thing,” Coreen said. “When the brazier bursts into flames Mike will lay down the knife and we all hold hands and start chanting, Elon-beth-hanan, until he appears.” Coreen took a deep breath and centered herself. “Elon-beth-hanan we beseech thee, accept our offering of gold from the East.”

 

Henry stepped forward and laid a small gold ingot next to the ceremonial knife.

 

“Elon-beth-hanan we seek an audience. We pray you find our sacrifice worthy. We give of our body from the East.”

 

Henry picked up the knife and cut off a small swag of his brown-gold hair and dropped it into the brazier and then he handed the knife to Coreen.

 

“Elon-beth-hanan we seek an audience. We pray you find our sacrifice worthy. We give of our body from the South.”

 

Coreen cut her much darker hair and dropped it into brazier. Henry’s hair seemed to shine through the black curl resting on top of it.

 

“Elon-beth-hanan we seek an audience. We pray you find our sacrifice worthy. We give of our body from the West.” 

 

Vicki added her straight, blond hair to the brazier and handed the knife to Mike.

 

“Elon-beth-hanan we seek an audience. We pray you find our sacrifice worthy. We give of our blood from the North.”

 

Mike slit the tip of his index finger, clenching his teeth against the sharp, electric pain of the slice. He held the dripping finger over the brazier and silently counted the drops as they fell, one, two, three, four. When the forth drop of blood hit the brazier the pile of hair burst into a bright purple flame. Mike blinked at the small fire burning with unnatural intensity, Coreen’s sudden hiss reminded him that the ritual wasn’t over and he quickly laid down the knife and reached out to take Vicki and Henry’s hand. His bloodied left hand slipped into the vampire’s and Henry lifted it to his mouth. He gently sucked the wound savoring the taste of his chosen’s blood and then he ran his tongue over the cut, it closed immediately and the bleeding stopped. Mike’s knees turned to water and his groin to iron at the sensual touch. He was achingly hard under the cotton cloth and his aroused state was impossible to miss.

 

“Elon-beth-hanan,” the circle began chanting. “Elon-beth-hanan, Elon-beth-hanan,” Each call sounded different, as if each round of the name being spoken added more voices to the chant. It echoed oddly throughout the room, resonating from the walls as if they were in a holy temple and monks called to the almighty in an ancient dirge.

 

Mike felt utterly ridiculous. Just ~how~ was this supposed to work?

 

Suddenly there was a burst of white light and the boy demon stood before them.


	9. Chapter 9

Elon-beth-hanan stood before the group in the smoke of the brazier’s fire. He was a slight figure, frail, skin creamy and light, his face held the beauty of a youth that had not yet reached puberty. His arms and legs were long, fine boned, limbs, his hands graceful. His mouth was sweet, his unlined face full of innocence. His dark-lashed eyes gazed out over the room and it’s stunned-silent occupants. His slender shoulders were mostly bare; the gauzy, white shift he wore from shoulder to knee was held by two golden disks that were neither large nor ornate, rather, only plain polished circles. The dark curls of his hair were held back with a simple leather tie, showing his boy’s face off without obstruction or false adornment. He turned around curiously moving slowly in a circle looking each of the participants of the summoning up and down before settling on Mike Celluchi and the tented piece of cloth that did little to hide the detective’s erection. 

 

The demon’s lips curled into a smile as he looked up into the man’s face. “Why have you requested an audience, Warrior?” the boy demon asked, stepping closer and sniffing at the police detective. “I can smell your blood, demon-candy. You smell of power and promise.” The demon tilted his head as he looked into Celluchi’s eyes, a curious child seeking an answer to the way of the world. “Are you for me?”

 

Mike was surprised and not at all pleased that the demon addressed him and not one of the others. His initial relief, when he saw how the boy-demon looked, was burned away in the blink of an eye. In spite of his deceptive looks, it was no child, no benign being, speaking to him now. His hair raised along the back of his neck. Beside him he could hear Henry give a low warning growl. Mike decided he had better answer before things got out of hand and Elon-beth-hanan decided to leave, or Henry decided to do something really stupid, like attack a bazillion year old creature that, if Coreen wasn’t pulling their legs, was from the beginning of time, or something very close to it. He cleared his throat hoping he wasn’t saying the wrong thing. “We wish to ask for your help in rescuing the children that Maponus has taken from us.”

 

“Why would you ask me to help humans rescue their children, Warrior?” the demon asked, with a note of puzzlement in his tone and still examining Mike’s muscular body as if Mike were indeed the demon-candy he’d called him.

 

“We know who you are, you exist to thwart Maponus,” Mike said, beginning to feel uncomfortable with the demons unswerving interest in him, but relieved that his erection had softened, because right there, under that short shift, was the answering swell of the demon’s own organ. The demon was erect and he was showing it off for Mike. Mike let out an odd choking sound as the epiphany hit; the demon was trying to seduce him, was interested in him in *that* way. Mike cringed inwardly. It didn’t matter how old he was, he looked like an adolescent. A wave of nausea passed through him and he almost missed the demon’s reply.

 

“I do not exist to thwart Maponus or to bring happiness to humans. I exist to maintain balance; I care nothing about your human emotional ties or your concept of right and wrong, good and evil. They are alien to me. I do not “rescue” the children that Maponus takes; I simply restore the balance that he has tilted off center. But, the energies are out of balance in this reality, so perhaps, Warrior, you could help me,” Elon-beth-hanan said, stepping forward and lifting his hand to stroke Mike’s chest. He wanted to touch the muscles of the warrior’s chest, run his thumb over Mike’s nipple and feel it tighten into a hard little peak. Mike took a step back, He wasn’t about to let the demon touch him.

 

Elon-beth-hanan let a smile spread across his features. He moved forward again and once again Mike moved back. Mike could hear Henry’s growl grow louder.

 

The little demon’s smile turned into a grin and he raised one eyebrow as he spoke. “Surely, Warrior, you know that payment must be made. What will you give me that I want if not your tender flesh?”

 

“He is mine,” Henry growled through clenched teeth, unable to stay *silent* any longer. His eyes were fiery red and gold, his hands reached out, taking hold of the detective and pulling him away from the demon. Henry stepped forward, one shoulder in front of Mike blocking the demon’s touch. “We offer you gold,” he ground out between his fangs.

 

 

The boy demon turned his attention to the vampire. “I require an anchor in this reality. Maponus has bonded with children, as you well know vampire. He has taken hundreds of children and unless I bond with a human of this reality I have no means to bring the energies sufficiently back into balance. Without an anchor my time on this plane is too limited, and I cannot stop him from pulling the energies even further out of alignment. Without a bond all I can do is slow the chaos he brings to your world. With a bond I will be able to restore balance. I cannot bond with you, vampire. You are in this world but not of it. The female warrior, though desirable, wares another demon’s mark; if I choose her I would have to fight the demon that marked her, and that would be an act of chaos. For that reason I do not want to bond with her. The witch has promise, but she is young and not yet proven herself worthy. There is also a risk; a witch can become drunk with power. If she were draw too heavily on the magic energies available to her, should we bond, she could pull the energies out of alignment. This one now worships balance, but power corrupts humans and the danger is great that she may be seduced by chaos. I will take the male warrior; he will be useful to me in this world and it will free you to protect the witch, she no longer goes unnoticed by those of my dimension.”

 

“I don’t belong to anyone but myself,” Mike said letting his anger show. “And I certainly would not ‘bond’ with you. You’re just a boy and I’m no pedophile.”

 

Elon-beth-hanan turned back to Mike and laughed. “Don’t let my appearance fool you. I am as old as the first man, as the first tilling of the soil. I watched as man learned to walk upright and learned to huddle in animal skins in his frigid caves. I am no child, Warrior. But you have given your blood to summon me here, blood that carries the vampire’s scent, but he has not fully claimed you. So I will allow you to choose between the vampire and me. Who will it be, Warrior?”

 

“I say no to both,” Mike answered, his chin lifted high. Yet he did not move out from behind Henry as he spoke. 

 

“That is not acceptable,” Elon-beth-hanan said. “If you refuse the vampire that avows you are his then I will take you. It is within my right to claim one from the circle if I so choose.”

 

Everyone looked at Coreen. “I guess that was one of the parts I didn’t translate,” she said with a forced smile and turning a bit red.

 

The boy demon held out his small hand to the warrior he hoped would choose to help him restore balance to this world; he would be a fine tool in his fight. Mike saw the soft skin marred by little scratches, scratches that were so unexpected. Elon-beth-hanan looked like a lost child desperate for the help of an adult, injured and needy. Mike felt disoriented. 

 

“Listen,” Vicki said to the demon, feeling she had stayed quiet long enough and feeling a certain responsibility to clear up the misunderstanding if she could. “You can’t have Mike. We are willing to help you ‘bring the energies into balance,’ but bonding with Mike is out of bounds. All we want is to get the children back.”

 

Elon-beth-hanan turned to Vicki, “It is not your choice to make, Warrior. It is his.” The demon turned back to Mike. When he spoke his voice was deep and commanding. It was no longer the voice of a child but one of a very old and strong demon. “Answer me, Warrior! Who do you choose?”

 

Mike didn’t want to answer, He wanted to break and run, to get away from what he knew to be the truth. But the command in the demons voice was too strong. “I belong to Henry,” he said, shacking with an effort not to speak. But he had spoken, out loud, in front of his friends. He had admitted aloud what he had been denying to himself all these weeks. 

 

“So be it,” Elon-beth-hanan sighed as he picked up his gold ingot offering and turned it in his hand. “Then I will leave, a pity that you have chosen chaos. I would have enjoyed hearing your screams of pleasure.” 

 

“Wait,” Coreen shouted. “I’ll do it, I’ll bond with you. I’ll be your anchor in this reality.”

 

“No, Coreen,” Vicky said. “He said it was dangerous to bond with a witch.”

 

“He said it was dangerous if I pulled too much magic energy from the other dimension,” Coreen said. “I want this, Vicki. This kind of opportunity doesn’t happen very often. I’m not stupid, I can be careful.” Coreen turned to look at the demon. “You can protect me, right, from the other demons of your dimension, the ones that worship chaos? Because I so don’t want to have anything to do with a demon that worships chaos.”

 

Elon-beth-hanan smiled and walked over to Coreen; he looked her up and down and then ran his fingers through her hair. “If you bond with me and allow me to leave my mark on you, you will be protected. But you must understand, Witch, that if you are responsible for pulling the energies out of balance I will have to bring them back into alignment?”

 

“I understand,” Coreen said, resignation and determination showing in her voice.

 

Mike stared at her, His remaining vague nausea growing again. She wanted this, she was willing to lay with the demon. His stomach rolled unpleasantly.

 

“Well, I don’t understand,” Vicky said. “This is too dangerous. I don’t like what he said about bringing the energies back into alignment. It sounded like a threat to me.”

 

“It was not a threat, Warrior; it was a promise of what will be. If the Witch is selfish and causes imbalance then I will return and kill her,” the demon said. He turned his attention back to Coreen. “You are young and full of promise, you have not yet proven yourself worthy but you align yourself with others that have. Before I accept you I must be sure you understand that I am half of the pair with Maponus. Do you understand that we cannot exist one without the other, to weaken him weakens me? This is the time, the cycle, of his ascendancy. Mine will come again, soon enough. Those who worship as he does are in their power. I can only do small things until it is my time. Do you understand and accept these things?”

 

“I understand and accept,” Coreen said with a nod, her voice serious. “I’m only human and I’ll never be a warrior like Vicki, but I’ll do my best to be worthy of you.”

 

“Of that I have no doubt,” Elon-beth-hanan said reaching for Coreen's arm. He looked around the circle meeting each pair of eyes in turn. “I choose this one. She is mine.” He pulled off the tiny shift letting it drop to the floor and then began running his hands over Coreen’s body.

 

“Um, can’t we go some place private for this?” Coreen asked. “I’d feel more comfortable if my friends weren’t watching.”

 

“You can use my bedroom,” Henry said. “This way.”

 

Vicki clenched and unclenched her fists as she watched the couple leave the room. “You’re just going to let this happen?” she asked. “He said he’d kill her.”

 

“Only if she played around with magic too much. Besides, it was her choice,” Mike said, walking to Vicki and encircling her in a comforting embrace. “And it’s the only way we are going to get the children back. Which, I’ll remind you, is the whole reason behind this,” he said, waving his hand at the summoning paraphernalia. 

 

“It’s all right,” Henry said when he came back into the room. He walked over and put his arms around both humans. Now that Mike had admitted he belonged to the vampire, Henry no longer felt the overwhelming jealousy. “Elon-beth-hanan is not evil,” he said, looking at Vicki over Mike’s shoulder. “He worships balance. Maponus worships chaos. After Elon restores balance he will return to his dimension and there is a good possibility that Coreen will never see him again, and there is the added benefit that we do not have to worry about some big bad coming after her. Elon is a very strong demon. No demon will dare touch what’s his.”

 

“This is Coreen we’re talking about,” Vicki said pushing away from the group hug while Mike was still trying to find a way to accept what Henry was saying. Mike was left in Henry’s embrace alone, and seemingly unaware of it. “What if she screws up and does some magic he doesn’t like.”

 

“She won’t,” Henry said. “She would have to do something huge to pull things out of balance, something black. Protection spells and research won’t cause any problems. She’s going to be okay.”

 

Vicky shot a glance toward the door. “One of us should be with her. She shouldn’t have to go through this alone.”

 

Mike shot her an incredulous look.

 

“Not you or Henry, me, I should be with her. I should…help her.” She stood uncertain, poised as if to go to Henry’s bedroom, as if she would enter it and look into the events beyond it.

 

“You can’t go in there, Vicki,” Henry said. “You ware the marks of a demon that worships chaos. Elon will see it as an invasion. He’s not going to hurt her and she went in there of her own free will.”

 

Vicki pulled her attention away from the bedroom door. “Don’t think that this is going to make me forget about you and Mike,” she said. “Mike *belongs* to you. What the fuck is that all about?” She needed a distraction to forget about Coreen and this was just perfect.


	10. Chapter 10

Mike stood staring at Vicki, his face flushed and defiant, Henry's arms still encircling him. He reached up and pulled one arm away sliding his hand down the vampire's well-muscled arm. Small prickles of electric pleasure traveled through him as he interlocked their fingers. He needed this, wanted it, but he hated that Vicki was here to witness it. He didn't want her to see him with Henry. 

 

Vicki's eyes widened. "What's this all about, Mike?" she asked sounding a bit too incredulous for Mike's taste. What was wrong with him being with Henry? Just that they were both men, or was Vicki jealous, did she want Henry that much? Mike's frown deepened, his brows coming down.

 

"He's mine," Henry said, this time his voice was soft, the declaration held none of the challenge that it held when spoken to the Elon. Now it was just stated as a simple, indisputable, fact. Letting Vicki know where things stood, maybe giving her a warning not to interfere, but not threatening her. 

 

"Is this why Mike's been acting so weird lately?" Vicki asked, crossing her arms over her chest and glowering. "How long has this been going on?" She returned Mike's frown with every bit as much energy as the one he was sending her way.

 

 

"Nothing has been *going on*," Mike said, defensively, feeling the blush that had finally been fading, come back with a vengeance. "We haven't…" He was unable to say the words. He dropped the vampire's hand and walked across the room running his fingers through his hair, knotting them in his tangled strands and pulling, he needed the little shocks of pain to ground himself. "Jesus, I wish I had some clothes on. This would be easier if I had pants." 

 

A loud scream of pleasure erupted from Henry's bedroom. Vicki turned pink this time; Henry merely smiled wryly; Mike thought he'd give anything to be alone anywhere but here. 

 

"Well, at least someone is having a good time with this," Mike said turning to glare at the bedroom where the demon Elon-beth-hanan was claiming Coreen and marking her as his own. For Coreen this night was a dream come true; no, it was beyond that, beyond anything the young woman could have imagined, and she wanted it, practically begged for it. Mike had seen it in her face. Not that Mike wanted to be with the demon, but he'd like to...well...have some alone time with Henry. 

 

"You're not going to get away with changing the subject. I want to know what this is all about and I want to know now," Vicki said, letting the two men know she would brook no further interference. 

 

"Why don't we all sit down," Henry said, "And I'll explain."

 

"No," Mike said, grabbing the vampire's hand and pulling him to the couch. "I'll tell her, not that it is any of her business. I mean, Christ Vicki, I deserve some privacy, don't I? This whole thing started with you, though, so because of that, I'll try to explain it. Sit down, Vicki, and listen for once."

 

"I'm listening," Vicki said, her voice still holding an edge as she sat in a chair where she could see all the nuances of Mike and Henry's behavior. Mike was holding Henry's hand again, and not just holding it but their fingers were locked together, weird, very weird. It made her stomach feel strange, watching them, seeing them so close, touching. 

 

Mike took a deep breath and looked into Henry's beautiful, ancient eyes and then back at Vicki. He swallowed hard to get his mind off other things he could be doing, things that had nothing to do with talking or explaining the unexplainable. 

 

"This thing with us," Mike waved his free hand from Henry to himself and back again. "It started that night Henry was wounded. You asked me to feed him, let him drink my blood so he would live. I knew you couldn't deal with him dying. Or with me being the one to let him die." 

 

"Don't blame me for this," Vicki interrupted, angry at the insinuation. Her nostrils flared.

 

"I'm not blaming you, if you'd listen you'd know that," Mike said, impatiently. "I have to tell this my way. Now do you want to hear it or not?" He hoped she told him to forget it. But she grudgingly shook her head. She was a woman, she needed an explanation and she was going to have it, even if it embarrassed him to death. 

 

"Go ahead," Vicki said, with a bristling glare, the words delivered from between gritted teeth.

 

"I chose to let him bite me," Mike continued looking down at the hand intertwined with his, at the short, perfectly groomed nails tipping the vampire's long fingered, pale brown hands, "because I knew I couldn't bear the pain I would see in your eyes if Henry died. After that I started to have dreams. I didn't remember them when I woke up, at least no details, but I knew I had dreamed. I just shrugged it off. Until I got shot, then I was the one bleeding out, I was dying and I knew it. Henry was there, his hand slowing the flow, but I could feel it, my mind was clouding over. Henry asked me if I wanted him." 

 

"Well duhhh," Vicki said, drawing it out viciously. "Of course you wanted him to save your life."

 

Mike stared right back, his anger fading as he understood ~she~ was jealous whether she realized it or not. As stubbornly as she denied it, she wanted Henry, too. "No, Vicki," Mike said, looking into his friend's eyes, somehow knowing she was jealous, that it wasn't just him, made it easier for him to stay calm. "He asked if I wanted ~him~." He saw the instant she understood. 

 

"So you gave him a choice," Vicki said turning her attention to Henry, her anger finding a new target. "Be yours or die. I thought you were better than that. Why didn't you just save him like he saved you?"

 

"Because I couldn't," Henry said. "I knew what would happen if I put my blood in the wound. I know the strength of the blood call. Some would rather be dead than belong to a vampire. More people than you think. The choice had to be his to make, without my blood confusing the issue. I don't want a thrall; I want a warrior, a companion to stand at my side. I want someone who wants to be with me for me."

 

"It was my choice, Vicki," Mike said. "I did want…do want, to be his." The glare was back. "But don't you count on hearing it ever again. I don't want to talk about it. I'm a guy, I don't do feelings, not like this." He waited, then figured out she wasn't done being mad, and sighed. He resumed his speech. "Elon asking to have me, made me stop fighting it. I… I don't know what else to say. We belong together. The only time I feel good is when I'm with Henry. It pisses me off to have to say it, but it is true. Now can we stop talking about it?" 

 

"Soooo," Vicki said, eyes narrowed, her attention turning to Henry, "this is a done deal then. Are you going to turn him? Is he going to be your partner in everything, or just in bed?" She directed.

 

"I won’t turn Mike unless he wants me to," Henry said, more mildly than the tone of his questioner deserved. "I won't take away his free will, he wouldn't be Mike if I did." Mike ground his teeth together, he was right here, damn it, not someplace where he couldn't hear them talking about him. 

 

"You better make him happy, Henry," Vicki growled. "Or, I swear you'll have to answer to me. Just one fucking bruise..." She thrust her finger at the startled vampire. Mike, on the verge of a nasty comment was taken aback. Vicki was going to be nice, play big sister. OK. He could handle that. As long as she didn't tease him later, but that was probably too much to ask. 

 

Coreen walked out of the bedroom, the afterglow of her orgasm covered her skin from face to toes. "Wow!" She said as she headed for a seat, her barely covered breasts heaved. Mike eyed the precariously positioned drape. 

 

"Wow, he's… magnificent doesn't cover it. Is there a word beyond magnificent?" Correen cooed, fanning herself.

 

"Where is he?" Henry asked.

 

"Gone. He went back to his dimension, he told me to tell you he'd be in touch." Coreen collapsed on the couch, lounging there, looking completely worn out and smugly satisfied. "My goodness, now I understand why people summon demons." 

 

"He'd be in touch?" Mike asked, biting his lip. "We don't have that kind of time...."

 

"Yeah," Coreen interrupted, trying to stifle a yawn. "We have this telepathic link now. I can call him here and he can come to me whenever he wants. Oh, gods, I need to sleep. I'll have to sack out here, Henry," she said covering her mouth as a huge yawn erupted. "There's no way I can drive." 

 

"Mike can drive us," Vicki said, already on her feet.

 

"K, jus gonna close my eyes fa a sec…" and then Coreen slumped against the side of the couch, fast asleep.

 

"I think it's best you all stay here tonight," Henry said. "It's a few hours until dawn but by the time we all get dressed… You may as well sleep here, at least then you'll get some sleep."

 

"I've got dibbs on the sofa," Vicki said. Eyeing Coreen, and making plans to move her elsewhere.

 

Henry stood up pulling Mike with him, "Thanks Vicki, it means a lot that you accept us."

 

"Like I said, make him happy, but right now I would settle for sheets and a pillow."

 

"Already on it, it's a sleeper sofa." Henry said.

 

Vicki groaned. "No. There is some kind of cosmic joke in there, a vampire with a sleeper sofa. I'm too tired to deal with it. Help me shift her." 

 

*** 

 

After settling Vicki for the night and moving Coreen to the other half of the sleeper's mattress, Mike and Henry went to the bedroom. Mike stood staring at the mussed up bed. He felt the blush slowly creep up his cheeks. Just like he was a teen again, fighting to keep his randy body under control.

 

"It's okay," Henry said with a comforting stroke of the arm. "We'll change the sheets."

 

"It's not only that," Mike said, the scent of his apprehension filling the air. "I don't want to… Not tonight, not with them here." Because the idea of Vicki hearing him making the kinds of noises Coreen had been making...not a good thing, it was a bad thing, a very bad thing. 

 

"It's okay," Henry whispered softly into his ear. "Just let me hold you and watch you sleep. Knowing your mine is enough for tonight. He kissed the side of Mike's hot face. Kissed him and nuzzled in close. 

 

Mike slumped against the vampire and tilted his head to give Henry better access. “Henry, please, I… The sheets,” Mike said, his mind grasping at straws. “You must be able to smell Elon on them, and I’m exhausted. I haven’t slept well since the last time we were together. Don’t make me loose control.”

 

“Would you…loose control?” Henry asked, backing up and looking into Mike’s eyes.

 

Mike couldn’t look up, couldn’t meet the eyes he felt measuring him. “Yes,” he whispered, the word was no more than a breath, an exhale, but it carried away the final stone to Mike’s wall of denial.

 

Henry turned and got clean sheets from the bottom dresser drawer, He handed them to Mike and began stripping and remaking the bed at vampire speed. When it was done he turned to Mike and pulled him onto the bed, “sleep, My Own,” he said stroking Mike’s head. “We have the rest of our lives together, but tonight we sleep.”


	11. Chapter 11

Mike didn't like this plan much at all. He shivered as he looked down at himself; barefoot and dressed in the flimsy wrap he had worn when summoning Elon-beth-hanan. He wasn't the kind of guy who liked to show off his body, no matter how good it was. Right now he'd almost sell his left nut for a Speedo. He sighed heavily.

 

"I don't see why I have to wear this collar and chain," He had complained, coming perilously close to a whine, as Henry fastened them around his neck. He couldn't stop his hands from going up to his throat and pulling on the too snug collar, just the feel of the supple but confining leather against his skin was raising the hair along his spine, making him feel like it was choking him even as he was easily able to work his fingers under the collar. What he really wanted to do was claw at it until it came off. Jesus, this was freaking him out.

 

"Maponus will expect if from me. He believes I am a Vampire Master," Henry answered in a perfectly reasonable voice as he stood back to admire his human. "Vampires are dramatic." He explained when Mike glared at him.

 

"Collars, chains, leads, leather, short shorts." Henry said, poking at the mini-skirt with a distracted frown. 

 

Mike knew Henry was worried. The whole operation hinged on the roles they had to play. They had to be convincing. If not, Maponus would see through it all, and there would be hell to pay.

 

Henry put a hand on Mike's broad shoulder, gently rocking, until Mike felt some of the tension leave his body.

 

"If you can't do this, tell me now, Henry said, looking deep into Mike's eyes. "Once we are in the mansion it will be too late to get you back out until our business with Maponus is concluded. I don't put you at risk lightly, if you can't do this..."

 

Mike stopped him. "I hate the hell out of these things," He gave the lead a vicious jerk. "Ow," he muttered. "But... I can do it. For the kids." 

 

"Mike." Henry put a finger under the other man's chin, and made sure they were making eye contact. "We may rescue these children here tonight...but there will be more. He will take more. We can't stop that from happening. We can't save them all."

 

"We can today. We can help these kids." Mike growled fiercely, staring into the brown eyes of the vampire. They shared a long, long look, and finally Henry nodded. He took the lead out of Celluci's hand and started down the path. They moved quickly, and faster than he was ready for, the time for arguing was over. They were at Maponus door.

 

Mike let out a shuddering sigh. Their job was to distract Maponus while Elon, Vicki and Coreen rescued the children by any and all means at their disposal. 

 

 

The ornate door opened in front of them with barely a whisper of sound and Henry led the way into the mansion. It was Mike's first time seeing the marble statues of the children that lined the entire walkway. The walls were made of mirrors on all sides of the foyer, it seemed like hundreds if not thousands of children were frozen in time, The reflections stretched on into infinity, making it impossible to know how many were truly held in Maponus' magic stone embrace. Mike's stomach turned knowing that the children the demon held were all alive and he prayed to whatever god would still listen to a jaundiced police detective, that they weren't conscious within their stone prisons. 

 

Henry led the way through the wide foyer and into a large room that Mike could only describe as a throne room, as he assessed it from under his lowered lashes. 

 

 

The demon lounged comfortably with his flute lying across his lap while a naked child braided his hair. The braid would unravel the instant it was completed, falling into separate, heavy shanks of hair, and the child patiently would pick them back up in her little fingers and start again. Maponus stroked a finger along her bare thigh.

 

"Welcome Vampire," Maponus breathed, his eyes glowing as he eyed the human thrall. "I am intrigued with your offer, it is a treat to watch you put your thrall through his paces. Please, come closer," the demon said, licking his lips with anticipation. "I want to get a good look at your belonging."

 

Mike shivered. Crap, he had not expected this. Those eyes burning him like a match pressed to his skin, they ate at him, caressed him. The demon was beautiful, seductive, even the scent that filled the room made Mike tremble with want and disgust.

 

Maponus seemed to sense the human thrall's reaction. He lifted his hand, reaching out with long, sinuously beautiful fingers. Mike leaned away not wanting to be within a mile of that hand. Henry's forbidding voice stopped the demon with his fingers a fraction of an inch above Mike's cringing skin.

 

"You may look as much as you like," Henry said, coldly, "As we agreed, but you may not touch him. He is forbidden to know the touch of anyone but his master." Henry tugged on the lead and brought Celluci closer to his side, then pulled him down until he was on his knees. "Yes, here, pet, right here." He said. Then he took a handful of the other man's hair and pulled his head back, displaying his features. 

 

"Pity," Maponus said, as he leaned back in his chair and raised his flute to his mouth. He played a few haunting notes and the small piece of cloth that Mike wore fell to the floor. "Ah, yes, he is so lovely. A shame you will not share, I could make you a deal, you know."

 

Mike fought not to put his hands in front of himself. He knew that Henry would have no choice but to punish him if gave any indication that he was anything but a well-trained thrall. As if to remind him, Henry lifted him higher on his knees with the hand still fisted in his hair. It looked far more brutal than it really was. Mike arched his body, and Maponus made a noise that sent rivers of fear and heat down his spine.

 

Maponus let his eyes run over Mike's flaccid package. "I am surprised, Vampire, that you do not have him ringed. A pity not to decorate such a jewel."

 

"And what would be the fun of that? It would only get in the way of my using him." Henry stated as he reached out and started stroking Mike. "Besides we agreed on a full viewing. I didn't want you to accuse me of cheating you. There in nothing obstructing your view." 

 

Mike could not resist Henry's touch and in spite of his surrounding she got hard as Henry's hand slid up and down his growing erection.

 

"Lovely," Maponus whispered. He leaned forward. "And his mouth, so sweet, does he know how to use it well?"

 

"Here!" Henry commanded and Mike turned to face him, unable to hide the wild fear in his eyes. This was worse than he'd expected, Henry never told him this would be required. To do this, for the first time, not out of love, but for the amusement of this demon was wrong. Henry's eyes were devoid of compassion and his voice was harsh. "Now, show my friend, Maponus, what a talented mouth you have." 

 

For the children Mike reminded himself, but his hands shook as he opened Henry's fly and pulled out the vampire's hard cock. He closed his eyes tight and repeated to himself over and over ‘for the children’ as he ran his tongue across the tip of the exposed organ.

 

Henry tangled both hands into Mike's thick blond hair savoring itss oftness for a few moments as Mike's tongue gave him pleasure.

 

 

Mike could feel Maponus in his mind as the demon leaned closer, his eyes glowing even brighter with the enjoyment of watching the human. Mike could feel Maponus' glee at the power Henry had over him and Mike's emotional disgust at being forced to perform for him. Somehow Maponus had gotten into the detectives mind and Mike could feel the demon becoming intoxicated, as its cock grew hard and demanding. Maponus sent images into Mike's mind of the use, he would find for one of his possessions later this night; he made Mike see and hear the virgin boy's cries as he begged for mercy, a mercy that would not come and Maponus gave a satanically gleeful laugh.

 

Mike froze; the images sickened him and the sound of the laugh chilled him to the bone, he choked and had to pull off of the flesh filling his mouth. 

 

Henry closed his hands into fists and pulling hard on Mike's hair, using pain to snap him out of his daze. "Take me!" he commanded pulling Mike forward again, his hard cock demanding entry into Mike's mouth.

 

Mike could not resist the command and opened his mouth. Henry's large cock slid in, deep, to the back of his throat, and then out and in again. Henry was fucking his mouth, slowly and deliberately, and enjoying every stroke. Mike wanted to get up and run but he couldn't; he was held fast by the vampire's power. He was no longer a free man. He was owned. The realization pumped terror fueled adrenaline into him and he tried again to get up, to escape the pounding in his mouth, but the paralysis persisted as he fought against it.

 

"Mike!" Henry yelled and shook the thrashing and moaning man. Mike Celluci snapped upright in the bed, sheets and blankets tangled around his body like ropes. His chest was heaving like a bellows, and his body was covered with sour sweat.

 

For all of ten seconds Mike sagged into Henry's arms, then he stiffened and tried to pull back. 

 

"Need a shower," he mumbled trying to scoot to the side of the bed. Right now, with the memory of his nightmare still fresh, he preferred not to be touched, especially by the man next to him. He strained against the vampire's hold.

 

"Let go," Mike said as he tried to pull away, then louder, when Henry frowned, worried, "Let… Me… Go…" Henry released him and Mike sprang out of the bed and into the bathroom, shutting the door behind himself he dropped to his knees in front of the toilet and proceeded to vomit up what little was in his stomach and then he got into the shower and let the warm water loosen his tight muscles and wash away the filth of the vivid nightmare. 

 

 

Mike came out of the bathroom twenty minutes later, fully dressed. "The sun will be up in a few minutes," he said looking out the window. He wanted to look at anything but Henry's face. "I need to get some distance between me and this place." 

 

"I understand," Henry said, he didn't have time to deal with it now; he couldn't stop the sunrise. "But we have to talk about this. We can't let a nightmare come between us." 

 

"I just need some distance for awhile," Mike repeated, as he turned and left the room without looking at Henry.


	12. Chapter 12

The sun had just set when the phone started ringing, an insistent buzzing tone. Mike, Vicki and Coreen were long gone from the apartment; Henry was alone. He scowled down at the blue-lit screen of the cell phone, the nagging sound grating on his nerves as he read the caller ID screen. The listing read "Pied Piper" Henry felt an appalled admiration; it was very like Maponus to use his "nom de plume"

 

Henry flipped the phone open and answered. "Hello."

 

"Ahh, my sweet, you are awake," Maponus said, his voice soft, silky and seductive, like dark honey.

 

Henry closed his eyes, his lips tightening. Disgust flowed over him, that voice would never captivate him as it once had, it would never seem the most beautiful sound in the world to him, never again. He felt his fangs lengthen pressing into his lip, his body responding instinctively to the threat.

 

"I'm sure you knew I would be," Henry said, deliberately pitching his voice on the bored side, refusing to reveal any of his true emotions. But he wanted to cut the demon up, into tiny little pieces. And burn him, then watch his ashes drift, until there was nothing left.

 

"I have come to a decision," Maponus said. "I will sell you the merchandise for five bars of gold." The sound of his satisfaction was ripe and plumy, Henry snorted letting out a short bark of laughter. 

 

"Five bars? You jest, demon." Henry said, knowing he was expected to negotiate. "That seems a bit steep. I was thinking more along the lines of one bar. Who can tell how durable the merchandise will be?"

 

"Your offer is an insult, Vampire," Maponus said letting an edge of avaricious greed creep into his voice. "My merchandise is of the highest quality, guaranteed unspoiled."

 

"If you can guarantee this commodity is fresh even from your attention, I would be willing to go as high as two gold bars," Henry countered with convincing asperity. "And that is generous of me. This is true gold, made into bars when men did not dilute gold into base metal...it is 24 carat, dark gold. You can feel the difference, demon. And I am trading it for a product of uncertain purity."

 

"I have examined the merchandise, to insure its quality only. It has not been tried. " Maponus said, his voice returning to its dark seductive quality, Henry could almost see him licking his lips. "It produced the sweetest sound during the exam, such soft beautiful music. I will accept 3 gold bars, but not a fleck of dust less. It is a struggle for me to let it go, I would love to keep it for myself. I long to hear its cries again."

 

Henry's stomach turned. He knew that Maponus would not settle for soft cries. Not from those he owned. From his toys, yes, those like him who Maponus seduced to plant the seeds of chaos in the world, from those children he would require no more than cries of pleasure later to turn into black holes of guilt, or whimpers of powerlessness later to erupt in acts of violence. But he would make this boy scream and beg while he laughed and took his pleasure.

 

"Agreed, 3 gold bars," Henry said knowing he could do no better.

 

"Good, I will expect you in one hour."

 

"No, not tonight. I was not expecting to pay this much. I must retrieve the gold. I'll come tomorrow night."

 

Maponus did not like the delay, He wanted to sell the child and be gone. Elon was in the area and the prior loss of two children was upsetting, he could feel the little demon closing in on him. But three bars of gold... He couldn't turn his back on it. "All right, Vampire, I will wait until tomorrow night. You will be here one hour after sunset. Not a minute later or you will find me gone." 

 

"I'll be there," Henry said. He flipped the phone closed and dropped it on the couch and then he went to the bathroom and washed his hands. He felt...soiled.

 

@@@@@

 

Coreen cast a fascination spell over the gold bars and cast protection spells over Mike, Vicki and herself. Elon looked on, proud of his fledgling witch.

 

Everything was set and prepared. Mike had to admit that he liked this plan better then the one he'd faced in the nightmare, the one that had him on his knees, a feast for Maponus' lusts. Elon had done a magic spell on an ordinary cardboard box that would make it produce a blanket to cover the naked children whenever the box was closed and the protection spell would make them go unnoticed by Maponus. The one glitch was Henry; the vampire could not carry a protection spell, with all of Maponus' attention focused on Henry he would sense the magic and the group would lose the element of surprise. Henry had to go in unprotected but for his own wiles and vampire powers. 

 

Mike didn't like it much. He also didn't like it that they were not alone, with Elon, Coreen and Vicki nearby, Mike couldn't touch Henry. This might be the last time he saw him "alive" and he was afraid to touch him in front of the others. He was a damn coward, but when he tried to reach out he heard the harsh laughter of his father and brothers in the back of his mind, calling him all the way from childhood. "What are you, a faggot?" 

 

Mike wallowed in his misery as they trouped for the door, determined to carry off the rescue. Henry stopped him as the others passed into the hall. The vampire held him hard, his arms tight. Mike's arms found their way around the lean body, clinging hard and fierce in return. Then he was free and following Henry out the door. Only a few seconds with Henry...but his heart was far lighter for it, and fire burned in his veins. They were going to do this rescue and do it right. Nothing would stop them.

 

Mike had managed to get a small school bus to put the kids into once Elon freed them from their frozen state. The group found an inconspicuous place to park, behind a stand of trees, out of sight from the mansion but close enough for the children to get to in a hurry. He had parked his own car in the warehouse area, and would pick it up there after rescuing the children.

 

It would provide the backdrop to a convenient and convincing cover story for the police, that Vicki got an anonymous phone call saying she could find the missing children at the site. Mike had driven over to see if the tip was legit...and found the kids. It was simple and straightforward, his Captain should believe it. Or at least she could pretend to believe it, which was just as important. 

 

Mike had been hesitant to leave his car unattended, sure that there would be nothing left but the frame on top of wheel drums when he returned, but Coreen reassured him by putting a protection spell on the car. He only hoped that it would work. This plan was better then the nightmare scenario, but it still depended too much on magic for him to be comfortable. Magic just seemed so...weird. Not solid and reliable like his gun, or his cuffs. It was...wishy-washy, but what other choice was there? Mike gave in; his insurance was up to date if it came to that.

 

Everything was set. All contingencies taken care of, now there was only the inevitable hurry-up-and-wait portion of the evening to go through. They waited in the still night air, crouched low behind a thick stand of brush, branches poking at them like skeletal fingers as Henry approached the mansion door; it seemed to Mike like the world was holding its breath.

 

Then Henry disappeared inside the huge house and Elon waved his little troupe forward toward the side entrance of the Mansion.

 

@@@@@@

 

Henry walked into Maponus' throne room. The scene had not changed; the young, pre-pubescent girl still knelt naked at the demon's side endlessly braiding his hair, the braids unraveling as soon as she was done. She never lifted her eyes from the task. His oddly long fingers caressed her from time to time, absently.

 

Maponus licked his lips and leaned forward in hungry anticipation as Henry walked across the room. "Let me see the gold," he said reaching out his hand, claws extended in expectation. His lean face, at one time unbearably beautiful, was now repulsive as he looked at the bag in the Vampire's arms.

 

"Let me see the boy first," Henry said, "I won't pay if the merchandise is damaged." 

 

Maponus raised the flute to his mouth and blew a few sweet notes that cut an achingly pure path through Henry's senses. Henry saw movement at the corner of his eye and turned to see a statue seem to melt from stone to flesh. The little boy with Mike's eyes stumbled to his feet, blinking as if confused.

 

"There Vampire, he has been kept inviolate since you showed interest in him. Show me the gold and you may take your time and pleasure examining him."

 

Henry un-zipped the black Gym bag and removed the three weighty gold ingots, carefully setting them on the shinning floor in front of the demon.

 

Maponus' nostrils flared as he pulled in the scent of the 24-carat gold bars, he licked his lips and his tongue lingered seeking the taste of the metal in the air. The young girl was forgotten as he rose to go to the irresistibly shining treasure, the half done braid slipping through her fingers. His flute lay at his throne, forgotten as he made his way to his newly acquired wealth of freely offered gold.

 

Henry walked slowly toward the boy, watching as Maponus knelt at the small pile and picked up a bar, stroking it as if he were making love to it. Henry waited a moment to make sure the fascination spell was doing its work and then he seized the boy in one arm and dashed for the throne, picking up both the flute and the naked girl at the same time. Burdened with both children he ran for the door.

 

@@@@@

 

Vicki gave a soft gasp when she saw the inside of the mansion. The place looked huge and seemed to go on forever until she realized it was a trick of strategically located mirrors, repeating the corridors in even more confusing directions.

 

Elon started waking the children immediately touching them and bringing them back to flesh. Coreen, Vicki and Mike wrapped them in blankets, motioning for them to be quiet as they ushered them toward the door. To Vicki, everything seemed to be progressing in slow motion. At the rate they were going they would never get to the children frozen along the stairway. They had a dozen children freed when Henry came through the door carrying two more and Maponus' flute.

 

"We have to leave now, hurry," he said as Coreen and Vicki took the children from his arms. "The fascination spell won't hold for long." He handed the flute to Mike, "take this and go. I'll stay here and cover your backs. Go,” 

 

"That wasn't the plan," Mike argued He felt as if someone had just dropped a lead baseball into the pit of his stomach. What would he do if something happened to Henry? "You can't stay here by yourself," He muttered as he grabbed Henry's arm. "He'll kill you if you’re still here when he snaps out of it." 

 

"His power is diminished without his flute," Henry said freeing himself from Mike's grip, and then he changed, his eyes turned black and his fangs lowered. "Go, now!"

 

"You are worthy to be called warrior," Elon said, unaffected by the vampires command and then he turned and followed Coreen, the freed children and Vicki out the door.

 

Mike stood, muscles quivering with indecision, Maponus flute clutched tight in his hand. He couldn't leave Henry...yet, he had to leave Henry.

 

"Go!" Henry repeated and this time Mike could not resist the command. He headed for the door, stumbling, and was about to step outside when the sirens went off.

 

@@@@@

 

Maponus startled and looked up at the sound of the sirens, the fascination spell broken. He roared conjuring his flute to come to him, he needed it; his power was focused through his flute. With it he could call for demon assistance. He could feel its presence in the foyer and knew the enemy had captured it. He rose, his eyes burning, teeth showing as his mouth curled into a hellish grin, he ran out of the room, the doors splintering from his headlong rush. The demon never saw Henry. He only had eyes for his flute and the being holding it. With a demonic growl he hurled himself at the human who presumed to touch his scared instrument.

 

Henry launched himself at Maponus knocking him out of the air, short of his intended goal. "Run," Henry commanded and Mike took off, his injured leg forgotten in his headlong sprint for the bus.

 

Maponus roared and tried to get up form the floor but Henry was on top of him and then the chaos demon felt the vampire's fangs pierce his neck and his power begin to drain from him.

 

Henry drank, filling himself with the demon's strength, until Maponus was too weak to continue struggling and the alarm, powered by Maponus' magic, stopped.

 

"I won't forget this, Vampire," Maponus moaned, his chest barely moving with his breathing when Henry stopped drinking.

 

Henry stood up, licking his fangs clean and sneer on his face. "You reap what you sow, Maponus," he said to the demon still lying on the floor. "You sowed the seed of chaos within me when I was still a child. None of what happened today would have been possible without the planting of that seed."

 

"It is true, you are a child of chaos. How did you get Elon to help you?" Maponus asked. And oddly Henry thought he heard a tone of true affection in the question.

 

"You have it backwards," Henry said. "He didn't help us we helped him. STAY DOWN!” Henry ordered as Maponus tried to stand.

 

Maponus lay back unable to make his muscles disobey the Vampire. He growled in anger and frustration. Henry had stolen his flute, the focus of his magic, and drank his blood stealing his power from him. He was helpless as long as he was within the sound of the vampire's voice.

 

Henry walked back into the throne room and picked up his gold. When he returned he looked down at Maponus. "Stand," he commanded, his eyes shining black orbs, and Maponus stood. "You will remember nothing of what happened here this evening. You will have no memory of the children we have taken from you, or of the humans that took them. You will leave here tonight and never return to Toronto. It is a place that brings you no profit."


	13. Chapter 13

Mike was relieved that the Captain bought his story about how the children came to be found. Coreen's imagination was responsible for most of the fictitious account, and Mike had to admit the girl had quite an imagination. His Captain had listened with her mouth half open to the wandering tale, of how Vicki had gotten an anonymous phone call and then called him and when they got to the address the bus full of children was waiting. The Captain blinked, and then as if afraid to hear more, nodded and turned away. Though not before Celluci saw the expression on her face that showed she was wondering if her detective had all his marbles in a row. Still, for the reward of no more questions, Mike decided he could let that look slide. 

 

A detective, who was chosen specifically because she looked like someone’s favorite grandma, had questioned the children at greater length, gently of course, but not even under her skillful interrogation could any of the kidnapped children remember a thing.

 

It seemed that Elon-beth-hannon's touch not only released them from their stone state, but also removed any seeds of chaos that the experience planted in their psyche. Celluci was grateful for it. The children remembered nothing of their ordeal until they 'woke up' to find themselves on the bus, safe, with a fiercely protective Vicki, an excited Coreen and a grim faced Mike Celluci who agonized over the decision to leave Henry behind. 

 

Of course Mike knew what his Captain didn't. He wouldn't be heading out to find and arrest any perpetrators of the crime. Not this time. He could only shudder to think what would happen if he tried to drag Maponus into the station house. All Hell would literally be let loose.

 

Coreen had been distraught by Elon's suddenly weakened state following the rescue. He had gone down on all fours suddenly, like a puppet whose strings had been cut. She rushed to his side and had held him up, trembling in her arms, his slight body, once so strong, barely able to remain on his feet without her help. Mike watched, understanding exactly how she felt.

 

Mike listened as the sagging demon explained to Coreen that his weakness was proof that the vampire had somehow weakened Maponus, Elon and Maponus existed as halves of a whole, where one was diminished, the other would also be diminished. There was no magic to fix it, so Elon took Maponus' flute and returned to his plane of existence to rest and recover. The boy demon was sure Maponus would do the same as soon as he was free of the vampire. It gave Mike hope that Henry was okay. It was something to cling to as the group waited for the police to arrive. Much better than thinking about the children that they were unable to rescue. They had saved many, but not all. 

 

Lucy, the missing girl who had started their involvement in all of this was among the recovered children, her eyes huge and confused, her memory mercifully dulled. There was a tearful reunion with her foster parents, but a surreal sense that something wasn't quite right when most of the children were returned to juvie hall their eyes blank. Even if they couldn't consciously remember the trauma of the last few months...their bodies did in some way. The road to recovery, if it were traveled at all, would be a long and tortured one. But now at least there was hope. ‘The best metal goes through the fire,’ Mike thought, ‘and these kids have been through a crucible.’

 

Mike forced the thought out of his mind. They had done all they could. The rest was out of his hands. Though when he looked and saw the face of the boy that Henry had bought from Maponus...he felt a clenching deep in his chest. Those eyes were the eyes he saw in the mirror every morning and every night. Eyes that had seen too much. Eyes that someday his son might have. If he ever had a son. He shook his head again and watched the child disappear into the juvenile system.

 

Henry had wisely absented himself from the goings on at the police station and it was ripping at Mike. The blood call was roaring through him and he fought to keep himself from running out of the precinct, he had to know, had to see if Henry really was all right. Yet he was caught in the web of the station, police procedure, paperwork and interviews, debriefings and the like. It took too long, and he watched the hours tick by. But at last it was time to go.

 

After all the questions and paperwork was done the Captain told Mike to go home and get some sleep. "Don't report for work today,” she said. "You look like hell Celluci, I'll deal with the press."

 

As soon as the trio got outside Vicki called Henry.

 

@@@

 

Henry called Mike and Vicki's cell phone as soon as he got back to his apartment, but they were turned off, no doubt so they could slog through the mountain of red tape at the precinct house. He tried calling the station but the desk sergeant refused to put him through to Celluci, saying he was busy on a case. Henry left a message and waited for a return call. None came. He knew Mike would come to him as soon as possible, he could feel the blood call vibrating in his veins, letting him know Mike was unharmed. 

 

Then the awaited phone call finally came. “Hello Vicki,” he answered.

 

“Henry,” Vicki said letting anger tempered with worry show in her voice. “Are you okay? We’re worried sick about you.”

 

“Your cell phones were off, I left a message for Mike with the desk sergeant. He didn’t give it to you?”

 

“No,” Vicki said, letting herself relax. “The bastard probably still has it on his desk. Coreen and I are exhausted; Mike’s going to give us a ride home.”

 

“Let me talk to Mike,” Henry said anxious to hear his intended lovers voice.

 

Vicki handed Mike the phone. “What a surprise, he wants to talk to you.”

 

“Mike, here.”

 

“There’s about two hours before sunrise,” Henry said, his voice soft and seductive. “We have time, come.”

 

Mike took a deep breath, relived that Henry sounded fine. “That’s the plan,” he said and snapped the phone closed.

 

“What plan is that?” Vicki asked as she took back her cell phone.

 

“To get you and Coreen safely home,” Mike said as they headed for his car, “and then get some rest myself.”

 

“Yeah,” Vicki scoffed. She had an idea that there was something more going on but she was just too exhausted to pursue it now. Tomorrow would be soon enough.

 

 

 

Henry hung up the phone sure with the welcome knowledge that Mike was on the way. He decided to take a shower. He wanted all traces of Maponus washed away before Mike got there. By the time he finished drying his hair and dressing in silk pajamas he could sense Mike was in the building.

 

@@@

 

As usual the door to the apartment seemed to open on it's own as Mike hurried toward it. He slid inside, holding his breath, his anxiety seeming to grow, not lessen, now that he was in Henry's home. His blood seemed to itch with the need for Henry's touch. Henry...who Mike saw was standing in the dim light as if waiting for him.

 

"I don't think I'll ever get used to that," Mike said as he stepped into the entry hall. He slowed but didn't stop until he was inches away from the vampire, so close he could feel the electric sense of their bodies tingling across his skin. He lifted his hand, but clenched his fingers before he could make contact. It was beyond him to move back or to lower his hand. He wanted to touch, to check the vampire to make sure he wasn't injured, as ridiculous as that sounded. He shook his head, but that did nothing to clear it. He stood, awkward, in front of the other and looked into his eyes. Henry, silent, looked back. Standing, immobile as they stared at each other.

 

At last Henry smiled, and the simple movement freed Mike to do the same. He gasped, drawing in badly needed oxygen. Henry reached out, touched his cheek, the vampire's skin warm, not cool. Mike leaned into the cupping palm. At last.

 

"It's the polite thing to do, open the door for your guests." Was the lighthearted response, then Henry's expression turned more solemn. "And no one would be more welcome here than you are."

 

Mike trembled, his eyes fluttering with the enormity of the emotion that surged through him at the words and at the power they contained. Six inches, or maybe a fraction less, apart and he couldn't move to bring them closer, yet he felt such a connection, such a draw it was all he could do not to fall to his knees and wrap his arms around the lean thighs, bury his face against Henry's belly and thank god, however odd that sounded, for his vampire's life.

 

"What did you do with Maponus' flute?" Henry asked, blessedly not removing his hand, letting Mike cuddle his face into it, the only physical connection between them at this moment. Mike turned his face a fraction until the edge of his mouth was against Henry's skin. Oh, so good.

 

"Elon took it back to his dimension; he insisted on it and I thought that was best, " Mike answered. "Elon said it was too dangerous to leave in this realm of existence. If it was left here some megalomaniac would find it and use it. He said only chaos would come if I tried to destroy it."

 

"It was the right thing to do," Henry said stepping forward another inch and reaching up to stroke Mike's hair with his free hand," Elon is right, it is too dangerous for anyone here to hold on to. He'll give it back to Maponus."

 

"Give it back? Why would he do that?" Mike asked, outraged. "It doesn't make any sense to give it back! He'll just use it to lure more kids! Why the hell did we go through all of this just to let him do it again?"

 

"Balance," Henry said as he watched his fingers sink into the thick curls of the Italian's hair. "Balance is all that matters to Elon. The light and the dark, good and evil. To have one there must be the other. The flute belongs to Maponus. He is weak without it. Remember what he said to Coreen? To weaken Maponus is to weaken Elon." Henry gave the little shrug that Mike was beginning to love. An elegant lift of his shoulders underneath golden silk pajamas, hardly more motion than a thought. But it was beautiful.

 

Mike thought of the boy demon and how weak he had gotten after leaving the mansion. Only Coreen holding him kept him on his feet. He'd almost gone to help...then he recalled the way Elon had looked at him that first night, the lust in those depthless eyes in a child's face and it was enough to keep him away. "You did something to Maponus. Elon was so weak he could hardly stand just before he went back to his dimension."

 

"Maponus went after you," Henry said, his voice sounded soothing and comforting. How could anything be wrong when Mike was in the presence of that voice? "I couldn't let that happen. I had to make sure he knew you were off limits. I drank his blood and made certain he would never come after any of us."

 

“You drank his blood?” Mike said as panic filled him. “My god, Henry, what will that do to you?” He lifted his hand and touched the vampire’s face. “Your warm; too warm for a vampire.”

 

“It’s all right,” Henry said, his voice reassuring as his finger combed through Mikes hair. “When I drank his blood I took his power.”

 

“I know you’ve never been cool to the touch but this…” Mike said, unconvinced. “You’re almost as warm as a human. Are you sure his blood didn’t poison you?”

 

“I’m sure. There’s nothing for you to worry about. When a vampire drinks blood they also drink in the persons life force,” Henry explained. “It’s how we get strong. When we’re first turned we’re weak and cold. We have to stay with our sire. Over time we get stronger and less cold. When we’re strong enough our sire sends us away to establish our own territory. Maponus was a strong demon and I took a lot of his power. He will heal but he’ll never get back what I took.” 

 

Mike took a sharp intake of breath as Henry's fingers combed through his hair, his lids drifting shut before popping open again. “How long will it last?” he asked as he tilted his head into the affectionate touch. 

 

“What’s mine is mine,” Henry said. “It’s part of me now. I can’t lose it unless another vampire takes it from me.”

 

Mike moaned when Henry's fingers began to stroke his face. Since when did it feel so good to be the one protected instead of doing the protecting? It wasn't manly, but Mike didn't care. Henry had protected him. And that meant everything.

 

"You saved my life again," Mike breathed as he looked into the vampire's darkening eyes. "I need..." He bit off the sentence, his face paling at coming so close to verbalizing his feelings to another man. He stiffened, beginning to draw away, humiliated by his lapse, hating the vulnerability, but Henry stopped him, catching him by his biceps with powerful hands.

 

"No. Do not flee from this, from me. From us." The vampire moved closer.

 

Mike stared into the gleaming eyes, helpless with unwanted desire and need so acute....

 

"We don't need to deny this. Not any longer." Henry whispered. "I want to make you feel how good it can be. Let me?"

 

Celluci gulped, frozen, his lips parted, panting. Henry's eyes dropped to his mouth, darkened further, his pupils dilating until they ate all the color from his eyes, pools of cocoa darkness, then returned to the detective's human gaze.

 

"I will make you tremble for my touch, I will love you, hold you, taste you. There will be nothing I will not give to you, nor anything that I will not take from you. You will be my sun and my sky, my daylight. And I will worship you every day of your life." Henry never glanced away, his eyes burning with the force of truth. Mike was stunned by the words, he had never dreamed to hear anything like it, not from a lover, certainly not from a man, not even from a woman. His face burned with his blush. He had never felt special, not like he was worth the kind of devotion Henry was talking about. He swallowed.

 

"I..." Mike said, at a loss for an equally moving response, He wasn't a man to use flowery speech, he was a man who showed how he felt, not one who talked about it. "I don't know if I am worthy of that," he said, his heart was pounding, driving equal amounts of blood into his heart and into his groin. He was achingly, rigidly, diamond hard. He thought he’d burst from it. It was screaming at him to go for it. All this shy, virgin-girlie stuff was..., it was taking too long. He ~wanted~ Henry… Now. He wanted Henry naked, on the bed. He wanted skin and sweat and moaning. He wanted sex. Mike understood sex.

 

Henry let out a small sound, taking that last half step that brought Mike into his arms, his one arm going snug around Mike's waist, drawing him in close. His other fine-fingered hand formed around the detective's erection, comforting it. Searching it with a hunger that was only fed by the times he'd had to hold back from touching the man.

 

Mike moaned again, his hips angling forward. Pressing himself into that gentle, hungry hand.

 

"You're more than worthy, Michael Celluci," Henry said looking into Mike's eyes.

 

"Henry." The word was strangled. He clutched at the vampire. "Please!" Mike was still scared as hell about this man-on-man thing. But he would rather die than demand Henry let him loose. And if he didn't get some of the man-on-man action soon he was going to explode. Hell, he might even beg for it if Henry didn't hurry up and show him what the heck it was all about. He held on, dropped his head, leaned in to press his gasping mouth to the soft, fragrant skin behind Henry's ear. Henry's hand smoothed down his back, found his ass, held on.

 

"My pleasure," Henry said in a soft seductive voice. "Whatever you need."

 

"I need...you to touch me." Mike's voice was small, his body swaying towards the vampire.

 

They shuffled into the bedroom then, Henry leading the way as best he could, not an easy task when neither he nor Mike wanted to turn the other loose, Mike was clutching Henry as hard as he could, shaking. There was nothing, ~nothing~ that would keep him from Henry's bed now.

 

 

"Anything you want that is within my power to give you is yours." Henry murmured and applied himself to the delectable mouth that opened beneath his own. 

 

"I want you, I want sex. I want you to fill me up." Mike said, desperately. He pulled Henry down onto the bed. “Make me feel loved.”

 

Henry licked the sweet, swollen lips when he pulled back to let the human breathe. 

"Like that?" He half teased. Mike moaned. Whoever had said a mouth was a mouth didn’t know what they were talking about. Henry's mouth....was...Henry's mouth, silken soft, wet and warm, yet it spread fire though out his body. He moaned again. "Oh, Christ."

 

Henry grinned. "I guess that means you like it," he said, twining a curl around one finger, and grinning a deliciously naughty grin. And he bent his head until their lips brushed again, softer, longer, sweeter, heavier, a lick and a suckle. So, so good. It was his groan that broke through the kiss this time.

 

Mike arched up as Henry removed the shirt that was all but torn off already. This was not what he was used to. His pants joined the shirt, in shreds. No cushiony curves; Henry was muscle and heat and strength. Alien in so many ways. Alien but so arousing Mike hardly remembered how to breathe, or why he should.

 

Henry, who he hadn't known at all a few months ago… Henry, undeniably male. His erection pressed into the crease of Mike's groin, dancing over hair and skin next to his own hard on. The friction was exquisite. A long drawn out slide of skin, silky hot, blood filled and fevered, salty wet with the mix of fluids.

 

Mike couldn't get enough of the kisses, the small nipping bites, peppered with teeth that were just too sharp to be human, with a tongue that knew too much as it explored more than his mouth, leaving that to tongue across his chin, his lips, his throat. Henry's thumbs teasing his nipples, harder than they had ever been. Nipples? Mike had never noticed his own, they hadn't been good for much...but now, Henry could make them the center of every bit of pleasure Mike could endure.

 

Henry sucked on the tender juncture of neck and shoulder, his hands moving down, seizing strong thighs, lifting them, parting them, guiding them around his hips, his body sliding down, his tongue again, this time laving the bared skin with broad flat swipes that lingered, worshipped, craved. Then pulling away, moving up, his hair teasing all along Mike's body, stealing tasting kisses, up, up, up.

 

Then the teeth, bitterly sharp in the heat of it, piercing in one long hard push, Mike moved, his hands gripping, not pushing away. Pain, acute, warred with a pleasure too intense to forgo, if this were the price for it...Mike arched his throat and gave it to his lover. Whatever Henry wanted to take was his. The reward...the pleasure grew and grew until it erupted from his body too vast to contain, thick ropy streamers splashing between their bellies. Too fast, far to fast, yet...nowhere near soon enough.

 

Mike fell headlong into languor. A sweet dreaming haze of satisfaction that filled him to overflowing, so full it poured from his every pore, rode along his tingling skin, drained from his neck with each swallow, into the mouth of the man feasting on his flesh.

 

Nothing had ever been so good. Nothing. So....

 

And it was over, he cried out his disappointment. He wanted...more. Longer, more. It couldn't just end. No....

 

The lips were there again, at his own, he lifted his head, and wondered at how heavy his body felt. Their tongues touched, lightly, a bare taste, a tang, copper tart. His body was too heavy, as if it were reluctant to move, to obey, to love. As if it had no memory of how to breathe. He closed his eyes, drifted on bliss, on ease, on peace. Henry was warm along his side. It was all he needed. Forever. His breath was only a sigh. A pause...too long...a sigh, finally a sigh....

 

A voice he knew called him. Called him and he listened to the music of the vowels, the staccato commend of consonants, tied into a group of sounds..."Mike." Henry. Henry was saying his name. Mike smiled. Henry's arms were around him, holding him. Henry's mouth next to his ear. Yes.

 

A word, a command, gentle, but with all the force of the world behind the single word. "Drink," Henry commanded. And Mike drank.


	14. Chapter 14

It was noon when Mike woke up to find Henry awake beside him. The comforter was up around his neck, the sheets were soft as silk and Henry’s leg was between his own, snuggled up against his package, which was showing definite signs of interest. The blush was instant. He shouldn’t have been so comfortable in this position, but he was and Henry was gazing at him.

 

“You’re awake,” Mike said surprised to see those beautiful eyes, so full of love, looking at him. “How? How can you be awake?” Mike was not an expert on Vampires but he knew that they slept like the dead during the day.

 

Henry reached up and stroked Mike’s hair, his body brushed against Mike’s as he moved and Mike’s cock became even more interested and began to send out urgent signals. Henry smiled and Mike knew he hadn’t missed the new developments going on under the sheets. Still Henry’s voice was calm when he spoke. “It must be Maponus’ blood, that’s the only explanation.”

 

“How long will it last?” Mike asked, pushing back his arousal. This stuff was important, after all, more important than sex. 

 

“Until another vampire takes it from me,” Henry said running a finger over Mike’s whiskered cheek, they both heard the tiny rasp from his bristly beard, “but I’m not going to let that happen.”

 

Mike’s blush, which had receded, returned. “So are there any other surprises, or maybe I should say consequences, to drinking Maponus’ blood?” Mike asked, forcing himself not to be distracted by the Vampire’s touch. 

 

“Actually, I’d be more inclined to call it a perk,” Henry said pulling away and squinting into his lover’s eyes. “I did what was necessary to protect you, and the girls, Mike. I’m a vampire; I drink blood. Why is this bothering you so much?” he asked, honestly concerned.

 

“You drank Maponus’ blood and now you can stay awake during the day. Which, unless I’m missing something, is not all that common among vampires. You say you took some of his life force, I’m not sure exactly what that means,” Mike said, searching Henry’s face for a reaction to what he was about to say. “You feed from people and make them forget. I can live with that as long as you don’t kill them, but Maponus preyed on children…” Mike licked his lips and steeled himself for what he was about to say. “If you suddenly develop an urge to hunt children, that I can’t live with. I will stop you, Henry; no matter what there is between us. I can’t live with you hurting children.”

 

Henry sat up in bed, putting his back against the headboard and the piles of pillows, and looked at the far wall. His voice was soft and full of pain as he spoke. “What Maponus did to those children…kidnapping them and imprisoning them in marble…that isn’t the only think he does in this world. He doesn’t imprison every child he defiles. He enchants some, the ones that have the opportunity to commit the most chaos, and then turns them loose in the world so he can watch.”

 

Mike stared up at the vampire. Henry was not in bed with him any longer, he was somewhere in the past, hundreds of years ago when he was a child, a child who Maponus had touched.

 

“I was King Henry’s favorite,” Henry continued, “and as such in line for the throne. Not first in line, of course, I was a bastard son, but all it would take was for my father to recognize me as his heir. Maponus enchanted me and seduced me. He made me feel things I was not ready to feel. I was not so young as many my age, I had grown up at court, which gave me no choice but to mature early. Even so I was not ready to be taken to bed and ravished. He planted a seed inside of me, one that would bloom into violence and hatred. If I had ascended to the throne, the things my father did would have paled in comparison to my own legacy. Thank God I did not get so far. I was lucky. I met a woman who helped me to understand what had happened and instead of wanting other children, instead of luring them into sex and darkness I developed far more normally then Maponus had hoped.” He turned to look into Mike’s eyes. “I was a child. I… will… not… visit that kind of horror and guilt onto another child.” 

 

Mike sat up and looked into his lover’s eyes. He moved closer and held Henry’s hand as he spoke. “I believe you, Henry,” he said. “I believe you.”

 

They kissed then, it wasn’t the kiss of urgent need or sexual arousal, it was warm and soft and full of promise. It was a kiss to seal a sacred vow. 

 

Henry smiled at him all signs of his torment gone. “The things I want to do with you…”he said, letting the sentence hang.

 

Mike, flustered, looked away, his cheeks burning. He had a few ideas himself that he was not examining too closely right now. He scooted for the edge of the bed. “I think I need a shower and a shave,” he said “Do you mind if I borrow your razor?”

 

“Using another man’s razor,” Henry said, with a smile as Mike paused at the edge of the massive bed, realizing he was naked and that he’d have to walk across the floor to get to the bathroom. “That’s pretty intimate. Are you sure you want to go that far?” Henry asked with a full, unguarded grin. He was loving this.

 

Mike decided there was no way around it; he took a deep breath and climbed out of bed and then turned to look at Henry. “So is that a yes or a no?” he asked, seeing the darkness, the want, fill Henry’s eyes.

 

Henry looked at the man standing before him, his well-toned muscles, his tousled blonde hair, deep blue eyes and even the sticky remains of their pre-sunrise lovemaking. “You’re so beautiful,” he said as his eyes wandered over Mike’s body.

 

Mike’s blush spread into intimate places. “I guess that’s a no,” Mike said with dignity. “Just don’t blame me if you get whisker burn,” he said deciding to tease back a little. He wanted Henry to know he could give as good as he got. “Sex addict,” he added for good measure and turned away.

 

Henry jumped out of bed and took Mike into his arms; one hand wandered down to cup his mate’s buttock.

 

Mike couldn’t hold back, he pressed into the appreciative hand.

 

“I meant what I said,” Henry whispered as he did marvelous things to Mike’s earlobe. “Anything it is in my power to give you is yours. Even unto my razor.” 

 

The kiss lasted longer this time. There was more tongue and more moaning …and Mike found out just what a perk it was to have Henry awake during daylight.

 

@@@@@

 

It was after his shower, when he looked into the mirror, that the events of the night before hit Mike. It wasn’t his eyes looking back at him but the eyes of the boy that Henry had carried out of the throne room. Mike shook his head trying to force the small voice in the back of his mind to quiet its repetitive nagging… ‘He could be your son.’ But it was the ringing of his cell phone that drove the thought from his mind.

 

Mike glanced at the caller ID, it was the station calling. Henry came into the bedroom to listen as Mike answered the call. “Celluci here.”

 

“Mike, we have a problem,” his Captain said.

 

“What’s the problem?” Mikes asked hoping she wasn’t calling for him to report to work.

 

“Look, Celluci, I know things have been weird around you lately, especially when Vicki is involved with the cases you’re working, but this goes off the weird scale. Way off. Two of the kids you rescued, a boy and a girl, weren’t recently abducted from Toronto. 

 

The girl was abducted from the States, Houston, Texas, four years, seven months and 12 days ago, to be exact. 

 

The boy, the one that looks so much like you, was originally from Toronto but both parents were killed in a car accident when he was five and the boy was sent to live with his grandfather on Prince Edward Island. His grandfather died when the boy was ten-years-old. He went into foster care and was abducted a few weeks later. That was a year and a half ago.

 

Now here’s the weird part Mike, they haven’t aged. The girl should be 15 years old now and the boy should be nearly 12.” 

 

The color drained from Mike’s face. No wonder Elon refused to free all the children. This kind of thing, if it came out, would cause too many unanswerable questions; it would upset ‘the balance’. “You must have the wrong ID’s,” he said rubbing his forehead.

 

“That’s what Texas is telling us. As far as they are concerned she’s not their kid. As far as the boy goes… that’s a different story. We have a positive fingerprints and picture ID from when he was put into foster care.”

 

“Malnutrition could account for why he appears not to have aged,” Mike said grasping at straws.

 

“It could, except the boy’s not malnourished,” the Captain said. “He’s the same height and weight he was when he was taken into the system. As for the girl, she’s been sexually abused, we have DNA, but the report came back that it’s not human, ‘unknown species,’ the report says. Jesus, Mike, it makes me want to vomit.”

 

If Mike’s stomach wasn’t empty he would have vomited, right there on Henry’s floor.

 

“Thank God she can’t remember,” the Captain continued. “We have to catch this bastard, Mike; he won’t stop. I think you and Vicki know more about this then you’re letting on. Pedophiles don’t just let their victims go.”

 

“Captain,” Mike said, deciding that the only choice he had was to stonewall her, “all I know is that those are the kids that were on the bus.”

 

“Vicki must know something. Why did she get the phone call?” the Captain asked. “It had to have been an accomplice that had a change of heart. If we can find that person he or she could lead us to this bastard.”

 

“Vicki doesn’t know anymore then I do,” Mike said. “If she did she would have told me. She wants to get this ass hole as much as we do.”

 

“Okay, Mike,” the Captain said, resigned to the fact she wasn’t going to learn anything from her detective. “We’ll keep the two kids in question here in Toronto. This animal’s a real piece of work. He targets children no one cares about. He knows there won’t be any questions. They’ll just slip through the cracks like all the others in this god-forsaken system. He has to be stopped,” she said as she hung up the phone.

 

Mike snapped his cell phone shut and tossed it on the nightstand as he sat on the bed beside Henry. He gave a soft moan as he rubbed his face with both his hands and the voice in the back of his head returned. ‘He could be your son.’

 

“What is it?” Henry asked as he rubbed Mike’s back.

 

“You don’t want to know,” Mike said, straightening up looking at Henry with a melancholy smile.

 

“When you’re in this much emotional pain,” Henry answered, “I not only want to know I need to know.”

 

“I just…” Mike began. “I keep hearing a voice in the back of my head telling me that that boy, the one that looks like me, is my son.”

 

“Is it possible?” Henry asked. “You would have been about 20 when he was conceived.”

 

“It’s possible, but not very likely.”

 

“You can look up the boy’s records and find out if you ever knew his mother.”

 

“That wouldn’t help. I… Jesus, I don’t want to go into this stuff,” Mike said, standing up and pacing the room.

 

Henry stood up and blocked Mike’s path, he took Mike’s face into his hands and looked into his eyes as he spoke. “If there is the smallest chance that the boy could be your son we have to find out. The Captain said he’s an orphan. You could get custody, get him out of the system, and give him a good life.”

 

“We can’t have a kid around, Henry,” Mike said shaking his head. “We’d never be able to keep what you are secret. And I can’t leave you, not with this blood call thing, not now that we’ve been together.”

 

“There are other options, boarding schools, summer camps.”

 

“I can’t afford…”

 

“I can,” Henry interrupted. 

 

“You’d do that, for me?” Mike asked.

 

“How many times do I have to say it?” Henry asked, looking into his lover’s eyes. “Whatever it is in my power to give is yours. Now tell me, why do you think he could be your son?”

 

Mike sighed, his shoulders slumped in resignation as he sat back down on the bed, he didn’t like talking about his past but there was no choice. Henry was right if there was the slightest chance this boy was his son he had to know. 

 

Mike looked down at his hands, folded in his lap, as he spoke. “My father was an alcoholic; I had no choice, I left home as soon as I graduated from high school. I got what jobs I could to support myself. I wanted to be a cop, but to do that I had to pass the civil service test and get accepted into the academy. The first time I took the test I failed, but there’s this course that teaches you how to pass the test. It cost two hundred dollars. It might as well have been 2 million. I looked for every legal way there was to make money and save what I made. I lived on noodles and ketchup soup and I sold my sperm to a sperm bank. I managed to get the two hundred dollars. I took the course, passed the test and was accepted into the academy. I never thought anyone would choose to use my sperm. I put it out of my mind…until I saw his face.” There he had said it out loud. He waited for Henry’s reaction. 

 

Henry lifted Mike’s face. “You did what you had to do to survive, Mike. You’re a warrior and a champion. There’s no shame it that.”

 

“I want to help them Henry,” Mike said, tears filling his eyes. “The boy and the girl that you took from Maponus. I have to do something, if I’m ever going to have peace of mind. I just can’t abandon them. I know what it’s like to be a kid alone in the world. I feel like an ass for asking… ”

 

“Shhh,” Henry said, reaching up and wiping Mike’s cheek with his thumb as a tear rolled from his eye. “We will, we’ll help them,” he said with a kiss. “I promise.”


End file.
